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Silver  Bust  of  the  Apostle  Thomas 


INDIA  AND  THE 
APOSTLE  THOMAS 

AN  INQUIRY.  WITH  A CRITICAL 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ACTA  THOMAE 


LONDON 

DAVID  NUTT,  57-59  LONG  ACRE 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  dr"  Co. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press 


PREFACE 


Before  commencing  the  perusal  of  these  pages, 
the  reader  may  find  it  useful  to  be  put  in  possession 
of  some  of  its  principal  features.  A close  inspec- 
tion of  the  List  of  Contents  would  no  doubt  outline 
the  information  ; yet  it  may  not  be  inappropriate 
for  the  general  reader  to  have  the  chief  lines 
briefly  traced,  and  the  aim  the  writer  had  in  view 
indicated. 

The  book  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  at  least 
two  classes  of  readers  : those  who,  accepting  in  a 
general  way  the  ecclesiastical  tradition  that  Thomas 
the  Apostle  had  preached  the  Gospel  in  India, 
desiderate  that  the  subject  should  be  threshed  out 
and  placed  on  a solid  historical  basis ; others — 
and  these  may  be  the  more  numerous — who  look 
upon  such  traditions  as  legendary  and  void  of 
foundation,  and  therefore  give  no  further  thought 
to  the  subject. 

The  writer,  who  held  the  former  opinion,  ven- 
tures to  offer  the  result  of  his  researches  on  the 
question  ; he  hopes  the  treatment  of  the  Apostle’s 
connection  with  India  here  submitted  may  be  of 

v 


VI 


PREFACE 


interest  to  both  classes  of  readers,  and  helpful  to 
the  formation  of  a correct  opinion. 

The  inquiry  opens  with  the  earlier  contact  of 
St.  Thomas  with  India;  this  would  fall  within  the 
period  that  may  be  termed  the  first  tour  of  his 
apostolate,  when  he  conveyed  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  Gospel  to  the  Parthians,  as  the  oldest  written 
record  attests.  It  would  have  been  then  that  he 
came  in  contact  with  Gondophares,  the  Parthian, 
who,  during  the  middle  of  the  first  century  a.d., 
ruled  over  Afghanistan  and  the  borderland  of 
India. 

The  subject  is,  next,  more  fully  discussed  in  a 
close  examination  of  all  available  records  supplied 
by  the  East  and  the  West  having  reference  to 
the  Apostle  and  his  mission  to  India. 

It  is  confidently  hoped  that  the  evidence  ad- 
duced will  uphold  the  truth  of  the  tradition  that 
Thomas  suffered  martyrdom  in  India  : thence  it 
will  follow  that  his  tomb  ought  to  be  found  in  India. 
In  fact  a long  chain  of  witnesses  will  be  produced 
extending  from  the  sixth  century  to  the  landing 
of  the  Portuguese  on  the  shores  of  India,  attesting 
that  the  tomb  was  really  in  Mylapore. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  Remains  of  the 
Apostle  will  show  that,  at  an  early  period,  these 
had  been  removed  from  India  to  Edessa ; evidence 
from  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  will  attest  that 
they  were  known  to  repose  in  that  city  during  the 


PREFACE 


vii 

fourth  century ; and  that,  in  fact,  they  remained 
there  until  the  city  was  sacked  and  destroyed  by 
the  rising  Moslem  power. 

To  remove  all  doubt  as  to  whether  the  Apostle 
Thomas  was  the  first  to  evangelise  India,  the 
claims  brought  forward  on  behalf  of  certain  alleged 
Apostles  of  India  are  likewise  submitted  to  a close 
scrutiny. 

This  closes  the  historical  part  of  the  Inquiry. 
The  reader  will  find  what  is  historical  and  what 
is  traditional  regarding  the  Apostle  classified  in 
the  Index  under  the  word  “ Thomas.” 

In  the  course  of  the  previous  discussion  men- 
tion had  to  be  made  more  than  once  of  the  story 
which  has  come  to  us  regarding  the  Apostle  named 
the  “Acts  of  Thomas.”  These  form  part  of  a 
class  of  writings  known  as  the  “ Apocryphal  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.”  It  had  not  been  the  writer’s 
original  intention  to  handle  this  subject  separately  ; 
but,  later,  it  appeared  advisable  to  undertake  it  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  further  historical  data  it 
might  yield  beyond  that  of  St.  Thomas’s  contact 
with  King  Gondophares  ; and  also  because  this 
class  of  literature  has  of  late  years  claimed  the 
attention  of  several  scholars  both  in  England  and 
in  Germany. 

As  Professor  Carl  Schmidt  has  made  a special 
study  of  the  Apocryphal  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  it 
will  be  interesting  to  learn  the  outcome  of  his 


PREFACE 


viii 

special  researches  in  this  line.  He  deals1  with 
a group  of  the  Acts  of  Peter,  John,  Andrew,  and 
Thomas ; those  of  Paul  he  reserves,  but  has  since 
treated  them  very  fully  in  a new  work.2  He 
commences  by  making  it  clear  that  Lipsius  had 
wrongly  assigned  an  heretical  origin  to  the  above 
writings,  and  he  blames  him  for  adducing  the 
authority  of  Philastrius  in  support  of  that  view, 
which,  he  says,  Lipsius  had  done  by  giving  a 
wrong  punctuation  to  the  words  of  Philastrius  and 
by  interpolating  words  of  his  own  into  the  text 
of  the  former.  For  this  statement  the  authority 
of  Zahn  is  cited  in  support.  The  Professor  next 
gives  his  own  views  on  the  original  texts  ; he 
admits  that  some  had  been  manipulated,  but  main- 
tains that  such  additions  and  corrections  as  were 
made  did  not  so  alter  the  writings  as  not  to  allow 
the  primitive  text  to  be  clearly  discerned-— in  fact, 
remained  transparent,  is  his  expression ; further, 
the  matter  introduced  was  not  so  extensive  as  to 
change  the  substance  of  the  writings.  He  then 
goes  on  to  say  that  he  has  the  greatest  confidence 
and  is  very  optimistic  in  regard  to  the  faithful 
transmission  of  the  ancient  texts  so  far  as  they 
have  come  down  at  present.  He  draws  also  a 
comparison  between  the  present  state  of  the  text 

1 Alten  Petruskaten  im  Zusatnmenhang  der  Apocryphen  Apostel- 
litteratur , Leipzig,  1903,  p.  73,  ff. 

2 Acta  Pauli,  Leipzig,  1904. 


PREFACE 


IX 


of  these  Acts  and  that  of  those  of  the  Martyrs, 
and  concludes  to  the  effect  that  no  deliberate  cor- 
rections or  alterations  had  been  made  with  a view 
to  change  the  nature  of  the  texts,  but  that  what 
was  done  was  due  to  the  arbitrary  act  of  indi- 
viduals, or  to  the  personal  taste  of  amanuenses,  or 
of  translators. 

After  a full  discussion  of  the  Acts  of  Peter,  he 
passes  to  review  those  of  John  (of  all  writings  of 
this  class  these  are  held  by  some  as  of  undoubted 
Gnostic  origin) ; he  then  formulates  his  general 
opinion  (p.  129):  “ My  discussion  has  been  longer 
than  I expected ; but  I have  full  confidence  that 
more  accurate  researches  will  support  my  thesis 
for  the  catholic  character  of  the  Acts  of  John, 
provided  we  keep  in  view  the  peculiarities  of  their 
ideas,  their  age,  and  their  origin.  However,  be- 
fore all  else,  I wish  to  insist  that  we  should  not 
work  with  general  Gnostic  ideas  [in  our  minds], 
nor  should  we  forget  the  deep  and  radical  differ- 
ences which,  at  bottom,  separate  the  writings  of  a 
Gnostic  mind  from  those  of  a catholic.  A Gnostic 
romance  of  the  Apostles  is  to  me  a phantom.” 

It  would  not  be  a difficult  task  to  compile  a 
long  list  of  ancient  documents  which  had  once 
been ' rejected  as  apocryphal  and  legendary,  but 
have  since  been  acknowledged  as  reliable  and  his- 
torical documents.  We  submit,  on  this  subject, 
the  opinion  of  another  modern  scholar  of  great 


X 


PREFACE 


research  and  erudition,  the  Rev.  Dom  H.  Le- 
clercq  :l 2  “II  n’y  a presque  pas  de  document  hagio- 
graphique  de  1’antiquite  chretienne  dont  on  n’ait 
mis  en  question  l’authenticite.  De  cette  suspicion 
generale  il  est  sorti  un  groupe  compact  d’ecrits 
sur  la  valeur  desquels  nous  sommes  pleinement 

' 5>  2 

assures. 

The  ground  for  a critical  handling  of  the  Acts 
of  Thomas  was,  in  a way,  quite  prepared  ; critical 
editions  of  the  early  Greek  and  Latin  versions 
had  been  issued,  as  also  an  edition  of  the  original 
Syriac  text  with  an  English  translation  by  the 
late  Dr.  Wright. 

This  portion  of  the  book,  as  a whole,  may 
perhaps  not  sufficiently  interest  the  general  reader 
— it  should,  besides,  be  read  with  a copy  of  the 
Acts  in  hand  ; but  even  the  ordinary  reader  will, 
it  is  hoped,  find  certain  sections  attractive.  He 
will  realise  that  the  Acts  of  Thomas  were,  at  an 
early  date,  extensively  interpolated  and  adapted 
for  doctrinal  purposes  by  certain  sects  ; and  that 
this  manipulation  of  the  text  was  carried  out 

1 Les  Martyrs,  vol.  iii.  pp.  cxliv-cxlv. 

2 In  a note  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  following  authorities  : — 
For  documents  of  the  Ante-Nicene  period — list  by  A.  Hamack, 
Geschichte  des  Altechristlichen  Litteratur , Leipzig,  1893,  vol.  i.,  parts 
i.  and  ii.  ; for  subsequent  period— O.  Bardenhewer,  Patrologie,  Frei- 
burg, 1894  [and  his  later  and  fuller  work,  Geschichte  des  Altkirchlichcn 
Litteratur , Freiburg,  1902];  for  hagiography — the  Analecta  Bollan- 
diana,  Bruxelles,  1892  ; and  after  1892,  Bulletin  Hagiographique ; 
Nuovo  Bullettmo  di  Archeologia  Cristia?ia,  Rome  ; and  others. 


PREFACE 


xi 


according  to  the  system  employed  in  the  case  of 
an  earlier  writing,  the  Acts  of  the  Virgin-Proto- 
martyr, Thecla,  tending  to  prove  that  the  Acts  of 
Thomas  had  an  early  and  independent  position. 

Following  on  this  the  reader  will  be  prepared 
to  accept  the  fact  that,  besides  the  historical  inci- 
dent mentioned  previously,  they  embody  in  a portion 
of  the  narrative,  which  has  all  the  appearance  of 
offering  an  historical  account  of  events,  the  men- 
tion of  usages  and  customs  which  are  found  to 
be  purely  Indian  and  Hindu.  This  would  natu- 
rally suggest  that  they  cannot  be  considered  as 
merely  legendary  ; further,  that  they  yet  retain 
portions  of  an  original  narrative  which  must  have 
come  from  India,  though  this  earliest  text  now 
bears  marks  of  gross  disfigurement  as  it  appears 
in  the  text  and  versions. 

The  writer  assumes  all  responsibility  for  the 
English  renderings  of  quotations  given  in  the  book, 
unless  they  are  assigned  to  others. 

A coin-plate  and  a sketch-map  of  Mylapore 
and  its  environs  accompany  the  Illustrations  ; these 
will  help  to  place  before  the  reader  such  memories 
of  the  Apostle  as  survive. 

The  writer’s  best  thanks  are  offered  to  Mr. 
W.  R.  Philipps  for  continuous  help  during  the 
several  years  occupied  in  collecting  the  material 
for  the  evidence  here  produced  : it  is,  however,  a 
matter  of  some  regret  to  him  to  feel  bound  to 


PREFACE 


xii 

express  in  the  book  dissent  on  two  points  from 
opinions  published  by  his  friend.  He  has  also  to 
express  his  acknowledgments  to  the  Rev.  Dom 
H.  N.  Birt,  O.S.B.,  for  most  useful  assistance  while 
reading  the  last  proof-sheets. 

The  Author  desires  to  record  his  great  apprecia- 
tion of  the  liberality  of  the  Marchioness  Dowager 
of  Bute  in  enabling  him  to  go  to  press  with  his 
work. 


Nice,  August  1905. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 


The  Apostle  Thomas  and  Gondophares  the  Indian 
King  — Connection  proved  from  Coins  and  In- 
scription   


PAGE 


I 


CHAPTER  II 

THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA 

V 

I.  The  Witness  of  St.  Ephraem  and  Syrian  Writers  18 

II.  The  Witness  of  the  Liturgical  Books  and 

Calendars  of  the  Syrian  Church  ...  38 

III.  The  Witness  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Western 

Church 42 

IV.  The  Witness  of  the  Calendars,  Sacramen- 

taries,  and  Martyrologies  of  the  Western 

Church 48 

V.  The  Witness  of  the  Greek  and  Abyssinian 

Churches 65 

CHAPTER  III 

SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 

I.  The  Witness  of  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  a.d.  590  . 71 

II.  King  Alfred’s  Embassy  to  the  Shrine,  a.d.  883  . 80 

III.  Visited  by  Marco  Polo,  c.  a.d.  1293  ...  84 

xiii 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


PACK 

IV.  Visited  by  Friar  John  of  Monte  Corvino,  a.d. 

1292-1293 87 

V.  Mentioned  by  Blessed  Oderic,  a.d.  1324-1325  . 90 

VI.  Visited  by  Bishop  John  de  Marignolli,  a.d.  1349  93 

VII.  Visited  by  Nicol6  de’  Conti,  before  a.d.  1430  . 95 

VIII.  What  Amr’,  Son  of  Matthew,  says,  c.  a.d.  1340  . 96 

IX.  What  the  Nestorian  Bishops  say,  a.d.  1504  . 96 

CHAPTER  IV 

FURTHER  HISTORICAL  AND  TRADITIONAL  RECORDS 
OF  THE  APOSTLE 

I.  The  Apostle’s  Relics  at  Edessa  and  Subsequent 

Removal 101 

II.  His  Martyrdom  Upheld 118 

III.  Different  Versions  of  the  Same  . . . .122 

IV.  Traditions  Regarding  the  Apostle  . . . -132 

V.  The  Question  of  ‘Calamina’ 150 

VI.  The  ‘Maliarpha’  of  Ptolemy 161 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA 

v'  I.  St.  Pantaenus  (SS.  Bartholomew  and  Matthew)  171 

- II.  St.  Frumentius 182 

III.  Theophilus  the  Indian 188 


CHAPTER  VI 


Did  a Disciple  of  Manes  go  to  India?  . 


203 


CONTENTS 


xv 


APPENDIX 

A CRITICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ACTS  OF  THOMAS 

SECTION  I 

PREAMBLE 

PAGE 

1.  Criteria 213 

2.  Are  the  Acts  a Romance? 214 

3.  Two  Different  Ancient  Views  of  the  Same  . . 215 

4.  Gnostics  and  the  Acts 216 

5.  Reasons  in  Support 216 

6.  Criteria  Applicable  to  the  Acts  . . . .217 

SECTION  II 

PRELIMINARY  QUESTIONS 

7.  Abdias,  his  Compilation 217 

8.  Acts  of  Thomas,  Original  Language  . . . .221 

9.  The  Syriac  Text  of  the  Acts 221 

10.  The  Greek  Version 222 

11.  The  Latin  Versions 223 

12.  Other  Versions 224 

13.  Acts  of  Thecla 225 

14.  Reconstruction  of  the  Acta 231 

15.  Interpolated  by  Gnostics 238 

16.  Acts  of  Andrew  also  Adopted  by  Them  . . . 239 

17.  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  Author  of  De  Miraculis 

Beati  Andre ae  . . . . . . . . .241 

18.  St.  Gregory,  probable  Author  of  De  Miraculis  Beati 

Thomae  ..........  244 

b 


XVI 


CONTENTS 

4. 


SECTION  III 

THE  ACTS  OF  THOMAS  DISCUSSED 

PAGE 

19.  Introduction 248 

20.  Thomas’s  First  Mission 249 

21.  Story  of  the  Dream-Vision 251 

22.  Syriac  Text  often  Altered 253 

23.  Acts  Dramatised — Act  1 255 

24.  Thomas’s  Second  Mission  Discussed— Acts  II.,  III., 

IV.,  V.,  VI.,  VII 257 

25.  Act  VII. — Discussion  Continued 260 

26.  A Romantic  Interpolation 261 

27.  Act  VIII. — Narrative 262 

28.  Act  VIII.  Discussed — Gnostic  Sects  in  Asia  . . 265 

29.  Doctrinal  Additions  to  Acts  of  Thecla  and 

Thomas 269 

30.  Baptism,  whether  by  Oil 273 

31.  Eucharistic  Celebrations 274 

32.  Incidents  Omitted  in  present  Syriac  Text  . . 275 

33.  Acts  Disclose  Indian  and  Hindu  Customs  . . 277 

34.  Names  Mentioned  in  the  Acts 281 

35.  Date  of  the  Acts 289 

36.  The  Martyrdom 292 

37.  The  Removal  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  from  India  294 


INDEX 


• 299 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


i.  Silver  Bust  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  . . F-ro?itispiece 


2.  Coins  of  King  Gondophares  . 

3.  Cathedral  of  San  Thome,  Mylapore  . 

4.  Interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  San 

Thome  

5.  Crypt  of  San  Thome  Cathedral,  show- 

ing Traditional  Tomb  of  St.  Thomas 


To  face  page  6 
„ „ 18 


» 64 


72 


6.  Slab  of  Chalcedony  which  covered 

the  Apostle’s  Relics  at  Chios,  now  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Ortona,  showing 
Figure  Bust  and  Greek  Inscription  „ „ 113 

7.  Altar  of  St.  Thomas,  Cathedral, 

Ortona  a Mare  (Italy),  under  which 

the  Apostle  Thomas’s  Relics  Repose  „ „ 118 

8.  Mount  St.  Thomas,  Traditional  Scene 

of  the  Apostle’s  Martyrdom  ; Church 

on  Summit „ ,,122 


9.  Little  Mount  St.  Thomas  and  Church  „ ,,  128 

10.  Stained  Glass  in  Portal,  Church  of 

Notre  Dame,  Semur,  Cote  d’Or  (France)  ,,  „ 148 


Explanation. — Top  row  : Christ  and  Angels. 

Second  row,  left : (1)  Thomas  puts  his  finger  into  Christ's  side. 

(2)  Christ  consigns  Thomas  to  Habban.  (3)  Habban  and 
Thomas  embark  for  India. 

Third  row,  right : (1)  Banquet  scene,  dog  in  front  gnawing  the  cup- 
bearer’s arm.  (2)  Habban  presents  Thomas  to  King  Gondophares. 

(3)  Thomas  distributes  the  King’s  money  to  the  poor.  (4)  (Imper- 
fect) Thomas  blessing,  probably  Mygdonia. 

xvii 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

11.  Stained  Glass,  Cathedral,  Tours  . . To  face  page  262 

Explanation. — First  and  second  bays  contain  scenes  based  on  the 
' Golden  Legend  ’ regarding  the  Apostle  Thomas  ; third  and 
fourth  bays  have  scenes  of  the  life  of  St.  Stephen  the  Martyr. 

Left,  bottom:  (i)  King  Gondophares  sends  Habban  to  engage  a 
builder.  (2)  Christ  instructs  Thomas  to  go  to  India.  (3)  Christ 
consigns  Thomas  to  Habban.  (4)  Habban  and  Thomas  embark 
for  India.  (5)  Banquet  feast,  King  and  others  present.  (6)  Thomas 
is  struck  on  the  cheek  by  the  cup-bearer.  (7)  Cup-bearer  killed 
by  a lion.  (8)  Thomas  at  the  King's  request  blesses  the  bride. 

(9)  Thomas  before  King  Gondophares.  (10)  Thomas  distributes 
the  King's  money  in  alms.  (11)  Destruction  of  the  idol  (the 
devil  in  the  form  of  a black  monster).  (12)  The  high  priest  kills 
Thomas. 

12.  Stained  Glass,  Cathedral,  Bourges 

(France) To  face  page  273 

Explanation. — First  Medallion,  bottom,  right : (1)  Christ  orders  Thomas 
to  proceed  to  India  (the  gate  indicates  departure  from  Caesarea). 

(2)  Thomas  presented  to  the  King.  (3)  Marriage  banquet.  (4) 
Cup-bearer  attacked  by  a wild  beast. 

Second  Medallion:  (1)  Thomas  blesses  the  bride  and  bridegroom. 

(2)  Thomas  before  a King  (Gondophares).  (3)  King  orders  the 
construction  of  a palace.  (4)  Thomas  points  to  heaven  where  the 
palace  has  been  erected. 

Third  Medallion  : (1)  Thomas  sentenced  and  sent  to  prison.  (2) 
Thomas  distributes  blessed  bread,  or  Communion,  to  his  converts. 

(3)  He  blesses  Mygdonia  while  in  prison.  (4)  Perhaps  an  appari- 
tion of  the  Apostle  after  death. 

Sketch  Map  of  San  Thome,  Mylapore,  and 

Environs To  face  page  1 1 1 


INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE 
THOMAS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS  AND  GONDOPHARES  THE 
INDIAN  KING— CONNECTION  PROVED  FROM 
COINS  AND  INSCRIPTION 

‘The  Acts  of  Thomas/  to  adopt  an  appellation  now 
become  general,  contain  certain  statements  which  dis- 
coveries made  in  recent  years  have  enabled  us  to  test 
in  the  light  of  actual  history.  The  narrative  tells  us 
that  the  Apostle  Thomas,  much  against  his  will  and 
inclination,  had  to  undertake  the  work  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  Indians  ; and  that  to  induce  him  to  obey 
the  mandate  he  had  received,  our  Lord  appeared  to 
him  in  person,  and  sold  him  to  Habban,  a minister  of 
King  Gondophares  of  the  Indians,  who  had  been  sent 
to  Syria  in  search  of  a competent  builder,  able  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  a palace  for  his  sovereign. 
Thomas  in  his  company  left  by  sea  for  India,  which  was 
reached  after  a rapid  passage.  Both  proceeded  to  the 
court,  where  Thomas  was  presented  to  the  king,  and 
undertook  the  erection  of  the  building.  Several  other 
incidents  are  narrated  regarding  the  Apostle,  mixed  up 
with  much  fabulous  matter  ; these  we  pass  over  for  the 
present. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  story  Thomas  is  in  the 

A 


2 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


dominions  of  an  Indian  king,  named  in  the  Syriac  text 
Mazdai,  in  the  Greek  version  Mia8aio<;,  and  in  the  Latin 
Misdeus.  It  was  in  this  country  that  he  brought  his 
apostolic  labours  to  a close  by  receiving  the  martyr’s 
crown.  The  facts  connected  with  his  martyrdom  will 
be  dealt  with  subsequently.  We  now  propose  to 
examine  if  there  be  any,  and  what,  foundation  for 
coupling  the  name  of  King  Gondophares  with  that  of 
the  Apostle.1 

Did  a king  of  the  name  of  Gondophares  reign  over 
any  portion  of  India,  and  was  he  a contemporary  of  the 
Apostolic  age  ? Where  was  his  kingdom  situated  ? 
Was  it  practicable  for  the  Apostle  Thomas  to  have  had 
access  to  it? 

Should  the  above  questions  receive  an  affirmative 
solution,  they  would  justify  the  inference  that  the 
recital  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas  in  this  point  was  based 
on  historical  knowledge  ; and  further,  that  on  this 
account  the  Acts  themselves  deserved  closer  study  and 
examination. 

The  name  of  King  Gondophares  appears  in  the 
Syriac  text  of  the  Acts  as  Gudnaphar ; in  the  Greek 
version  as  TowSa^opo?  : codd.  Rand  S of  a later  date 
give  Tovra<f)opo<;  and  TowSta<£opo?  ; the  longer  Latin 
version,  De  Miraculis , does  not  reproduce  the  name 
of  the  king:  he  is  throughout  styled  'rex’;  it  appears 
in  the  shorter  Latin  version,  Passio,  as  Gundaforus : codd. 
QGR  of  Max  Bonnet’s  Acta  Thomae  give  Gundoforus. 

It  was  only  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury that  it  became  possible  to  say  whether  a king  of 
that  name  ever  existed  and  had  reigned  in  India. 

1 The  reader  will  find  in  the  Appendix  A Critical  Analysis  of  the 
Acts  of  Thomas.  We  would  suggest  that  whenever  the  Acts  are  re- 
ferred to  in  the  text  he  should  turn  to  the  Appendix  for  further 
information,  and  consult  the  list  of  contents  for  same,  given  to 
facilitate  such  reference. 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING 


3 


In  1854  General  Alexander  Cunningham,  writing  in 
the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal  (vol.  xxiii. 
pp.  679-712),  was  able  to  say  that  in  the  preceding 
twenty  years  no  less  than  thirty  thousand  coins  bearing 
Greek  and  Indian  legends,  and  extending  over  a period 
of  more  than  three  centuries,  had  been  found  in 
Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab.  A large,  if  not  the  greater, 
number  belong  to  Greek  princes  who  ruled  over  the 
country  as  inheritors  of  and  successors  to  the  conquests 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  Another  portion  bear  the 
evidence  of  Scythian  conquerors,  confirmed  also  by 
other  authorities,  and  of  Parthian  kings  and  rulers 
who  had  become  masters  of  these  territories.  The 
coins  of  Gondophares,  the  king  with  whom  we  are 
concerned,  belong  to  the  latter  category. 

The  first  specimen  of  a coin  of  this  ruler  was  dis- 
covered by  Masson  in  Afghanistan  about  1834.  Since 
then  many  others  have  come  to  light,  and  specimens 
are  to  be  seen  in  public  collections  at  the  British 
Museum,  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris,  and  the 
Berlin  Museum.  We  had  opportunities  of  examin- 
ing the  specimens  of  the  two  former  collections 
from  which  the  types,  reproduced  in  this  book,  are 
taken. 

H.  H.  Wilson  in  his  Ariana  Antiqua,  London,  1841, 
gives  a history  of  these  discoveries,  and  he  and  James 
Prinsep  did  much  towards  deciphering  the  then  un- 
known characters  in  which  the  Indian  legends  on  the 
coins  appear.  After  the  death  of  James  Prinsep,  his 
brother,  H.  T.  Prinsep,  published  in  1844  a work  on  the 
same  subject — Note  on  the  Historical  Results  deducible 
from  Recent  Discoveries  in  Afghanistan  in  continuation  of 
James  Prinsep’s  labours.  But  these  works  are  now 
obsolete,  and  many  of  the  early  readings  of  the  legends 
have  had  to  be  discarded. 

What  General  Cunningham  wrote  in  1854  in  the 


4 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

periodical  above  named,  pp.  711-712,  may  here  be 
quoted  with  advantage  : — 

‘The  coins  of  Gondophares  are  common  in  Kabul 
and  Kandahar  and  Seistan,  and  in  the  western  and 
southern  Punjab.  All  these  countries,  therefore,  must 
have  owned  his  sway.  He  was,  besides,  the  head  and 
founder  of  his  family,  as  no  less  than  three  members 
of  it  claim  relationship  with  him  on  their  coins — 
Orthagnes,  his  full  brother  ; Abdagases,  his  nephew  ; 1 
and  Sasa  or  Sasan,  a more  distant  relation.  The  coins 
of  Orthagnes  are  found  in  Seistan  and  Kandahar  ; those 
of  Abdagases  and  Sasan  in  the  western  Punjab.  I pre- 
sume, therefore,  that  they  were  the  Viceroys  of  those 
provinces  on  the  part  of  the  great  King  Gondophares, 
who  himself  resided  at  Kabul.2  All  the  names  are  those 

1 Cunningham  here  styles  Abdagases  the  nephew  of  King  Gondo- 
phares. One  of  the  bi-lingual  coins  proclaims  this  relationship  in 
both  legends — Greek  and  Indian.  By  good  luck,  coin  No.  5 on  the 
plate,  which  is  a coin  of  Abdagases,  gives  this  reading  in  Greek 
incorrectly,  but  yet  sufficiently  clear  to  indicate  the  reading  /Sao-iXev 
[ — ] Y[vS]i(£fpo  aSeX^tSecos.  The  name  of  Abdagases  is  given  in 
an  incorrect  abbreviated  form,  A oa  [for  A/Sa],  representing  (if  we 
rightly  surmise)  the  Indian  form  the  name  bears  on  the  reverse 
legend  Avadagasa  (see  also  Silvain  Levi’s  Notes,  ut  infra,  p.  35). 
The  Indian  legend  leaves  no  room  for  doubt. 

2 This  should  be  regarded  as  a purely  personal  opinion  of  the 
writer.  The  question  of  the  capital  of  Gondophares’  kingdom  has  yet 
to  be  decided.  The  royal  cities  that  then  existed  in  Northern  Afghanis- 
tan and  North-Western  India,  and  have  since  been  identified,  are  : (1) 
Kabul,  alias  Ortospana  (Cunningham,  Ancient  Geography  of  India, 
London,  1871,  pp.  32-36),  to  the  Chinese  Kao-fu  [a  mistake  for  Tou-mi ] 
(Vincent  A.  Smith,  The  Kushan,  or  Indo-Scythian  Period,  ut  infra, 
p.  21).  (2)  Chinese  Ki-pin  identified  with  Kapisa,  Northern  Afghani- 
stan, where  the  king  of  the  kingdom  of  Kapisa-Gandhara  passed 
the  summer,  while  the  winter  was  spent  in  the  latter  province 
Gandhara),  possibly  at  (3)  Pushkalavati  or  Peukelaotis,  the  former, 
the  Sanscrit,  the  latter  the  Greek  form  of  the  name ; also  Prokalis 
(in  Periplus  Maris  Erythraei , and  Ptolemy’s  Geography),  now  known 
as  Hastinagar  (Cunningham,  ut  supr.,  pp.  49-51  ; also  Beal’s  Hiuen- 
Tsiang,  i.  p.  109  ; cf.  Vincent  A.  Smith,  ut  supr.,  pp.  24-29).  (4)  Taxila 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING 


5 


of  Parthians,  but  the  language  of  the  coins  is  Indian 
Pali.  Abdagases  is  the  name  of  the  Parthian  chief  who 
headed  the  successful  revolt  against  Artabanus  in  a.d.  44. 
The  great  power  of  Gondophares  and  the  discovery  of 
a coin  of  Artabanus  counter-marked  with  the  peculiar 
monogram  of  all  the  Gondopharian  dynasty,'  &C.1 

The  reader  will  find  reproduced  on  the  Plate  select 
specimens  of  the  better  preserved  coins  of  the  Gondo- 

or  Takshasila,  captured  by  Alexander  the  Great.  If  Gondophares’ 
capital  be  removed  to  the  south,  there  would  be  Kandahar. 

The  shorter  Latin  version  of  the  Acts  offers  the  following  variants 
of  the  names  of  Gondophares’  capital  : Elioforum , Hienoforum , Hyro- 
forum , Yroforum , Inforum ; nothing,  of  course,  can  be  made  out  of 
this  medley. 

1 We  omit  what  follows,  as  we  are  unable  to  agree  with  what 
the  learned  archaeologist  says — ‘That  the  Indo-Parthian  Abdagases 
was  the  same  as  the  Parthian  chief  whose  revolt  is  recorded  by  Tacitus 
and  Josephus.’  On  careful  examination  of  the  texts  referred  to,  it  ap- 
pears there  is  no  ground  to  assume  identity  of  person  in  the  two  cases. 
Tacitus,  Annales,  xv.  2,  quoted,  refers  to  A.D.  62-65  anc^  not  A-D-  44> 
and  has  no  mention  of  Abdagases.  But  bk.  vi.,  a.d.  32-37,  mentions 
Abdagases  only  incidentally.  In  a.d.  35  (chap,  xxxi.),  Sinnaces,  son  of 
Abdagases,  is  mentioned  ; he  caused  some  Parthian  nobles  to  be  sent 
secretly  to  Rome,  to  have  Artabanus,  their  king,  deposed ; and  the 
same  Sinnaces  drew  Abdagases  into  open  revolt  (chap,  xxxvi.).  Under 
a new  king,  Tiridates,  Abdagases  became  practically  the  ruler  of  the 
country  ; Tiridates  was  soon  turned  out  (chap,  xliii.),  and  Abdagases 
fled  with  him,  when  Artabanus,  the  lawful  king,  was  restored.  All 
this  would  seem  to  have  occurred  in  a.d.  36.  Beyond  a similarity  of 
name,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  was  any  connection  between  this  Abda- 
gases and  the  nephew  of  King  Gondophares. 

The  second  quotation  from  Josephus’  Antiquities , xxiii.  2,  is  equally 
faulty.  Josephus’  Antiquities  of  the  Jews  has  but  twenty  books  ; the 
only  mention  of  Abdagases  occurs  in  bk.  xviii.  chap.  ix.  sec.  4,  p.  71, 
where  Artabanus,  the  King  of  Parthia,  is  mentioned  in  connection 
with  ‘Abdagases,  one  of  the  generals  of  his  army,’  who  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  kill  Asineus  and  his  brother  Anileus,  Jews,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  a sort  of  independent  position  around  Babylon  ; 
but  this  the  king  would  not  allow,  as  they  were  his  guests,  and  he  had 
pledged  his  word  to  them  for  their  safety  (see  The  Works  of  Flavius 
fosephus , translated  from  the  Greek  by  William  Whiston,  in  2 vols., 
London,  1838,  vol.  ii.).  Here  there  would  also  seem  to  be  only  a 
coincidence  of  names,  and  no  connection  between  the  two  Abdagases. 


6 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


phares  series  existing  at  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  and 
the  British  Museum.  Impressions  of  the  four  coins  on 
the  left  were  kindly  supplied  by  M.  jean  de  Foville,  Sous- 
bibliothdcaire  au  Cabinet  des  Mddailles  de  la  Biblio- 
theque Nationale.  Those  on  the  right  were  similarly 
obtained  through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Rapson, 
Assistant  Conservator,  Department  of  Coins  and  Medals, 
British  Museum  ; he  has  also  very  kindly  corrected  the 
Greek  and  supplied  the  Indian  legends  given  in  the  text. 
Coin  No.  i at  the  top  of  the  plate  comes  from  the  Berlin 
Museum. 

Coins  of  King  Gondophares 

1.  Obv.  Gondophares.  Bust  of  the  king  wearing  Arsacid 

tiara,  diadem. 

Rev.  King  seated  on  throne  holding  sceptre ; behind,  Nike 
crowning  him.  Greek  legend — 

BACIAEGOC  BAEIAECJN  METE 
YNAEI<f>EPHE  AYTDKPATD 

2.  Obv.  Bust  of  king  crowned.  Greek  legend,  part  legible — 

BAEIAEI2E  C[— ] 

Rev.  Nike  offering  crown.  Indian  legend — 
Gomdapharnasa  tratara[sa— — ] 

3.  Obv.  Bust  of  king  crowned  (different  type  from  No.  2). 

Greek  legend — 

[BAE]IA[EI2]E  LOTH  PD  E YN[ ] 

Rev.  Nike  offering  crown.  Indian  legend — 

[— ] harajasa  Gomdapharnasa[.  . . .] 

4.  Obv.  King  on  horseback,  flowing  turban,  whip  in  hand. 

Greek  legend — - 

[BjAEIAEUJN  BAE1AELUH  [rD]NADl}]ArDY 

Rev.  Siva;  right  hand  holding  trident,  left  extended  over 
symbol.  Indian  legend — - 

Maharaja  - rajarajasa-mahata-  dramia-deva  vrata  | 
Gudapharasa. 


Coins  of  King  Gondophares 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING 


7 


5.  [Abdagases’  coin] — 

Obv.  King  on  horseback  (type  No.  4).  Greek  legend — 

BADAEV  ADA  V[NA]l<t>EPO  AAEA<J>IAElUC 

Rev.  King  standing ; right  hand  over  symbol.  Indian 
legend — 

[Gudaphara-bhrata-putrasa]  maharajasa  tratarasa 
Avadaga^asa. 

6.  Obv.  King  wearing  an  ornament  in  the  form  of  a diadem. 

Greek  legend — 

BADAEHC  mTHPOC  VNAD^EppCIV 

Rev.  Nike  holding  crown.  Indian  legend — 

Gom[da]pharnasa  tradarasa  maharajasa. 

7.  Obv.  King  crowned.  Greek  legend — 

BADAE  [ ]pDE  VNADl|lEpDV 

Rev.  Nike  as  in  No.  6.  Indian  legend — 

Gomdapharnasa  tradara[sa  . . . .]  jasa. 

8.  Obv.  King  on  horseback,  facing  left.  Nike  standing  in 

front  with  crown.  Greek  legend — 

[— ]ET AADY  rDNA[— ][jlAPDV 

Rev.  Indian  symbol  and  legend — 

Maha[ Jdramiasa  apratihatasa  devavratasa 

Gudapharasa. 

9.  Obv.  Same  as  preceding.  Greek  legend — 

[B]ADAE[n]N  [— ]BADAElxl[— 

Rev.  Indian  symbol  and  legend — 

[ -a]  pratihatasa  deva[ ]. 

Professor  Percy  Gardner,  in  his  Catalogue  of  the  Coins 
of  Greek  and  Scythic  Kings  of  Bactria  and  India  in  the 
British  Museum,  edited  by  Reginald  Stuart  Poole,  Lon- 
don, 1886  (Introd.,  pp.  xliv-xlv),  observes  : 1 In  the  in- 
scription of  the  Gondophares  coin  we  find  the  epithet 
AvTo/cpcLTcop,  which  is  found  in  the  money  of  only  two 


8 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Arsacid  kings — Sinatroces,  B.c.  76  to  69,  and  Phraates 
IV.,  A.D.  8-1 1.  This  particular  coin  of  Gondophares, 
then,  would  seem  to  have  been  struck  not  later  than  the 
middle  of  the  first  century  A.D.  The  period  mentioned 
would  suit  the  other  coins  of  Gondophares.’  At  p.  xlvi 
he  offers  the  following  additional  data  : ‘ (Epigraphy  of 
the  Coins.)  On  referring  to  the  coins  of  the  Arsacidae, 
we  find  that  in  the  series  the  square  [omicron]  □ and  C 
[sigma]  come  in  some  twenty  years  B.C.  On  the  other 
hand,  LxJ  [omega]  does  not  take  the  place  of  12  until  8 A.D. 
It  is  in  keeping  with  these  facts  that  Maues  uses  round 
letters  only ; Azes  and  Azilises,  Spilirises  and  their 
contemporaries,  use  the  square  □ with  12;  Gondophares 
and  Abdagases  use  the  forms  □ and  LU  . We  have  thus 
a series  of  kings  covering  B.C.  50  to  A.D.  50.’ 

Mr.  E.  J.  Rapson  of  the  British  Museum  ( Indian 
Coins , with  Five  Plates , Strassburg,  1897,  P-  J5>  § 61)  con_ 
firms  the  above  chronology  : ‘ Indo-Parthian  Coins — 
Date  of  Indo-Parthian  Dynasty.  The  Indo-Parthian 
dynasty,  the  best  known  member  of  which  is  Gondo- 
phares, seems  to  have  succeeded  the  dynasty  of  Vonones 
in  Kandahar  and  Seistan,  and  to  have  at  one  period 
extended  its  territories  eastwards  into  the  Punjab  and 
Sind,  which,  at  an  earlier  date,  formed  the  kingdom 
of  Maues.  With  regard  to  the  chronological  limits — 
(1)  the  foundation  of  the  dynasty  seems  to  be  after 
1 B.C.  (Von  Gutschmidt,  Gesch.  Ir.,  p.  134);  and  (2)  the 
date  of  one  of  the  latest  kings,  Sanabares,  after  77  A.D. 
(Von  Sallet,  Z.  f.  N.,  1879,  p.  364).  For  a coin,  bearing 
the  name  of  Aspavarma  ( v . supra,  § 34),  which  seems 
to  join  in  some  manner  as  yet  unexplained  the  two 
branches  represented  by  Gondophares  and  Azes  (§  31), 
v.  Rodgers,  N.  Chr.,  1896,  p.  268.’ 

The  French  savant,  M.  Sylvain  Ldvi,  who  wrote 
about  the  same  time,  concurs  in  the  views  given  above 
{Journal  Asiatique,  tom.  ix.,  Neuvieme  sth'ie,  1897,  Jan., 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING 


9 


Fevr.,  p.  41):  ‘Du  cot6  de  Gondophares,  1’hypothese 
Concorde  avec  d’autres  donnees.  Gondophares  prend 
sur  les  Kgendes  grecques  des  monnaies  le  titre  d’auto- 
krator,  comme  font  les  empereurs  remains  a partir 
d’Auguste.  Les  Parthes  Arsacides,  intermediates 
naturels  entre  le  monde  romain  et  l’lnde,  marquent 
avec  precision  I’epoque  ou  ce  titre  passe  d'Occident  en 
Orient:  Phraates  IV,  qui  regne  de  8 a 11  apres  J6sus- 
Christ,  est  le  seul  (en  dehors  de  l’incertain  Sanatrokes) 
a prendre  le  titre  d ' autokrator.  C’est  ^galement  a partir 
de  Phraates  IV  que  1’omega  carr£  se  substitue  a l’omega 
arrondi  dans  les  tgendes  grecques ; les  monnaies  de 
Gondophares  montrent  la  transformation  accomplie  deja 
dans  1’Inde.' 

The  latest  writer  who  treated  the  subject,  Mr.  Vincent 
A.  Smith  ( Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society , January, 
1903,  ‘The  Kushan,  or  Indo-Scythian  Period  of  Indian  j 
History,  B.C.165  to  a.d.  320,’  quotation  taken  from  separate 
reprint  of  the  paper,  p.  40),  is  also  in  full  agreement  with 
preceding  scholars  : ‘ On  the  obverses  of  his  coins  his 
name  in  Greek  characters  assumes  the  forms  of  Gondo- 
phares, Gondaphares,  and  Undophares,  which  last  is 
perhaps  to  be  read  as  beginning  with  an  aspirate.  The 
reverse  legends  in  the  Kharosthl  script  give  the  name 
as  Gudaphara,  Gadaphara,  or  Gudaphana.1  This  mon- 
arch . . . was  clearly  of  Parthian  origin,  and  his  coins 
are  closely  related  to  those  of  other  Indo-Parthian  kings. 
All  the  indications  of  his  date  taken  together  show  that  he 
must  have  reigned  in  the  first  half  of  the  first  century  a.d. 
He  uses  the  title  avTOKpdrcop,  which  was  introduced  by 
Augustus,  who  died  in  A.D.  14,  and  was  adopted  by 
the  Parthian  king  Phraates,  a.d.  8-1  i.  The  square 

1 M.  Sylvain  Levi  (ut  supr p.  36),  draws  attention  to  another 
variant  of  the  name  Gondophares  offered  in  the  Indian  legend  of  a 
Berlin  coin,  with  the  termination  Gudu /pharna ; the  reading  is  also 
found  in  the  Indian  legends  (Plate)  in  our  coins  Nos.  2,  3,  6,  and  7. 


10  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


omega  and  square  omicron , which  were  not  definitely 
adopted  by  the  Arsacidae  before  a.d.  8,  frequently 
occur  in  his  coin  legends.  . . . The  relation  of  his 
coins  to  those  of  Azes,  Soter  Megas,  and  other  rulers 
on  the  Indian  frontier,  agrees  with  the  other  data  which 
indicate  his  reign  as  lying  in  the  first  half  of  the  first 
century  A.D.’ 

Besides  the  legend-bearing  coins  an  inscription  has 
also  been  discovered  offering  the  name  of  King  Gondo- 
phares.  As  some  doubt  had  been  cast  on  the  reading 
of  the  inscription,  it  will  be  best  to  give  the  reader 
an  historical  account  of  the  stone  and  of  the  readings  of 
the  inscription. 

The  Takht-i-Bahi  stone,  to  give  it  the  name  by  which 
it  is  known,  is  now  in  the  Lahore  Museum,  where  the 
writer  had  occasion  to  inspect  it  several  years  ago.  It  is 
a large  thick  block,  not  a slab,  with  a flaw  at  the  top 
centre ; a large  piece  was  apparently  chipped  off. 
General  Cunningham  in  the  Archaeological  Survey 
Report  for  the  years  1872-73  (vol.  v.,  Calcutta,  1875, 
pp.  58-59)  gives  the  following  account:  ‘The  stone 
itself  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Bellew,  and  has  been  pre- 
sented by  him  to  the  Lahore  Museum.  We  are  indebted, 
however,  to  Dr.  Leitner  for  bringing  it  to  notice.  I have 
repeatedly  examined  it  in  different  lights,  and  have  made 
numerous  impressions  of  it,  from  which,  with  the  aid 
of  a large  photograph,  I have  prepared  the  accompany- 
ing copy.  Before  seeing  Professor  Dowson’s  notice 
[published  in  Triibner s Literary  Record],  I had  read  the 
name  Gondophares,  together  with  the  year  of  his  reign 
and  the  name  of  the  month  Vesdkh,  &c.,  in  a small 
photograph.  But  an  inspection  of  the  stone  showed  me 
that  there  were  two  distinct  dates — the  first  of  which  I 
take  to  be  the  year  of  the  king’s  reign,  and  the  second 
the  Samvat  year.  As  the  stone  has  been  used  for 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING  n 


many  years,  perhaps  for  centuries,  for  the  grinding  of 
spices,  all  the  middle  part  of  the  inscription  has  suffered 
and  become  indistinct,  and  some  portions  have  been 
obliterated  altogether.  But  the  top  and  bottom  lines 
and  the  left-hand  portion  of  the  three  middle  lines  are 
generally  in  very  good  preservation.  The  stone  is  17 
inches  long  by  14^  inches  broad.  [It  has  six  lines.]  . . . 
In  the  first  line  it  will  be  observed  that  there  is  a rough 
space  in  the  middle  of  the  king’s  name.  From  the 
appearance  of  the  stone  I am  satisfied  that  this  gap 
existed  when  the  record  was  inscribed.  There  is,  how- 
ever, the  trace  of  a peculiar  flourish  still  visible  in  the 
left  half  of  the  broken  space,  which  curiously  enough 
is  the  very  same  that  is  now  used  by  English  clerks 
to  denote  a blank  space.  ...  I consider  that  it  is  a 
very  good  illustration  of  the  practice  of  the  old 
Indian  masons  when  they  met  with  a flaw  in  the 
stone. 

‘ I read  the  opening  of  the  inscription  as  follows  : — 

“‘In  the  26th  year  of  the  great  King  Guduphara,  in 
the  Samvat  year  three  and  one  hundred  (repeated  in  figures) 
100  + 3=  I03>  i’1  the  month  of  Vaisakh,  on  the  4th  day.” 

‘Its  last  words:  sapuyae , matu  pitu  puyae- — “for  his 
own  religious  merit,  and  for  the  religious  merit  of  his 
mother  and  father” — show  that  it  is  only  a simple  re- 
cord of  the  building  of  a stupa  or  vihar  by  some  pious 
Buddhist.’ 

We  follow  up  this  clear  account  of  the  stone  and 
its  inscription  by  what  Professor  Dowson  has  to  say 
on  the  subject  (see  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
New  Series,  vol.  vii.,  1875).  His  first  reading  appeared 
in  Trilbneds  Record,  June  1871,  mentioned  above.  Of 
the  six  lines  he  found  only  the  first  two  legible,  con- 
taining name  of  a king  and  a date,  and  towards  the 


t2  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


end  the  word  puyae  twice  inscribed.  The  reading  he 
gave  was  the  following  : — 

‘In  the  26,  twenty-sixth  year  of  the  great  KingGuna  . . . 
pharasa,  on  the  7,  seventh  day  of  the  month  of  Vaisdkha.’ 

He  considered  the  identification  of  the  king's  name 
doubtful,  as  three  letters  were  obliterated.  He  after- 
wards saw  Cunningham’s  reading  reproduced  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  August  1873,  p.  242. 
Cunningham  there  says  the  inscription  ends  with  the 
words:  ‘for  his  own  religious  merit,  and  for  the  religious 
merit  of  his  father  and  mother.’  Professor  Dowson 
then  took  up  the  inscription  again,  and  his  new  reading 
of  the  first  line  was  : — 

‘In  the  26th  year  of  the  great  King  Gunu  . . . phara 
(Gondophares).’ 

Second  line  : — 

‘ In  (the  year)  one  hundred  of  the  Samvat  on  the  day 
of  the  month  Vaisakha.’ 

He  declares  himself  doubtful  about  the  first  part  of 
the  second  line. 

The  reader  will  observe,  comparing  the  Professor's 
second  reading  with  that  given  by  the  General,  that 
the  differences  are  (1)  the  first  portion  of  the  king’s 
name  is  read  ‘ Gunu  ’ by  Dowson  and  ‘ Gudu  ’ by 
Cunningham  ; then  (2)  the  Samvat  year  is  read  roo  by 
Dowson  and  100  + 3 by  Cunningham;  (3)  in  the  month 
Dowson  omits  the  date  given  by  Cunningham.  These 
differences,  even  if  they  can  be  sustained,  do  not  vary 
the  substance  of  the  record. 

The  General  on  his  return  to  England  took  up 
the  inscription  once  more,  and  gives  his  matured 
opinion  ( Coins  of  the  Indo- Scythians,  pp.  16-17):  ‘An 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING  13 

inscription  of  Gadaphara  or  Gondophares,  found  at 
Takht-i-Bahi,  to  the  north-east  of  Peshawur,  is  dated 
in  the  26th  year  of  his  reign.  There  is  also  a date  of 
Samvat  103,  as  I read  it.  The  numeral  for  100  is 
certain,  and  as  this  is  followed  by  three  upright  strokes, 
the  whole  date  would  appear  to  be  103.  The  era,  how- 
ever, is  quite  unknown.  If  referred  to  the  Vikramaditya 
Samvat  it  would  be  103  — 57  = 46  A.D.  This  date  would 
place  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Gondophares  in 
46  — 25  = 21  A.D.,  and  as  his  coins  are  very  numerous, 
he  must  have  had  a long  reign,  perhaps  thirty  or  forty 
years,  or  down  to  A.D.  50  or  60.  The  reading  of  the 
name  Gadaphara  in  the  Takht-i-Bahi  inscription  is 
thought  to  be  doubtful  by  those  who  have  not  seen 
the  stone.  I have  examined  the  inscription  many  times, 
and  I reassert  that  the  reading  of  the  name  is  most 
certainly  Gadaphara , the  separation  in  the  middle  of 
the  name  being  simply  due  to  an  original  fault  in  the 
stone.  I may  note  here  that  there  are  many  similar 
faults  in  the  great  Kalsi  inscription  of  Asoka.’ 

M.  Senart,  member  of  the  Institut  de  France 
( Journal  Asiatique,  Huitieme  serie,  tom.  xv.,  Fev.-Mars, 
tom.  i.,  1890)  is  the  last  scholar  who  has  written  fully 
on  the  Takht-i-Bahi  inscription,  Notes  d' Epigraphie 
Indienne , accompanied  by  a print  of  an  impression 
taken  from  the  inscription.  He  gives  his  reading  at 
p.  1 19,  fully  supported  by  detailed  remarks  given  in  the 
text.  The  following  is  the  reading  he  offers  : — 

‘L’an  26  du  grand  roi  Gudupharas,  103  du  comput 
continu,  le  cinquieme  jour  de  mois  Vai^akha  . . . en 
l’honneur  de  . . . en  l’honneur  de  ses  pere  et  mere.’ 

‘The  26th  year  of  the  great  King  Gudupharas,  the 
one  hundred  and  third  of  the  continuing  (running)  era, 
the  fifth  day  of  the  month  of  Vaisakh  ...  in  honour  of 
. . . in  honour  of  his  father  and  mother.’  The  reader 


14  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

will  not  fail  to  observe  that  the  reading  in  substance 
gives  the  same  result  as  that  proposed  by  Cunningham 
in  1875,  with  the  correction  that  a ‘continuing  era’  is 
quoted,  and  the  date  of  the  month  is  read  ‘ fifth  ’ instead 
of  fourth.  In  his  reading  of  the  era  date  M.  Senart 
agrees  with  Cunningham  in  opposition  to  Professor 
Dowson  ; he  adds  (pp.  115-117):  La  lecture  des 
caracteres  suivants  ne  laisse  aucun  doute  sur  l’interprd- 
tation  de  la  date ; c’est  bien  Fannie  103  comme  l’avait 
admis  le  general  Cunningham.  Un  second  example 
du  chiffre  100  est  deja  connu  par  l’epigraphe  de 
Pandjtar  (Arckceological  Survey , iii.,  PI.  XVI.,  Fig.  4)  ; 
see  Fleet,  Corpus  Inscript.  Ind.,  iii. 

The  last  remark  is  aimed  at  a theory  put  forward 
by  Mr.  Vincent  A.  Smith  that  in  writing  the  figures  of 
an  Indian  era  the  numerals  of  hundreds  and  thousands 
were  omitted.  Since  then  Mr.  Vincent  Smith  in  a 
recent  paper,  1893  ( ut  supr.)y  has  expressly  excluded  the 
Takht-i-Bahi  inscription  from  the  number  of  those 
which  he  reckons  as  belonging  to  the  Laukika  era,  to 
which  he  restricts  at  present  the  theory  he  had  put 
forward.  We  reproduce  his  latest  opinion  on  this 
inscription,  p.  40:  ‘One  of  the  most  famous  of  these 
rare  Karosthl  inscriptions  is  that  from  Takht-i-Bahi  (or 
Bahai),  north-east  of  Peshawar,  which  was  published 
by  Cunningham  in  an  incorrect  form,  and  has  been 
revised  by  M.  Senart.  The  record,  although  too  im- 
perfect to  admit  of  continuous  translation,  is  certainly 
a Buddhist  votive  inscription  record  in  the  26th  year 
of  the  Maharaya  Guduphara  on  the  5th  day  of  the 
month  Vesakha  of  the  year  103  of  an  unspecified  era. 
It  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  Maharaya  Guduphara 
mentioned  in  this  record  is  the  well-known  King 
Gondophares,  whose  coins  are  abundant  in  the  Panjab 
and  Eastern  Afghanistan.  [The  intermediate  passage  has 
been  given  above.]  If,  on  this  evidence,  the  conclusion 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING  15 

be  accepted  that  the  accession  of  Gondophares  must  be 
placed  somewhere  about  A.D.  25,  it  follows  that  the 
unnamed  era  of  an  inscription,  dated  in  the  year  103 
of  that  era  and  in  his  26th  regnal  year,  must  run  from 
about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  B.c.  The  only 
known  era,  starting  from  that  point,  is  the  Malva  or 
Vikrama  era  of  B.c.  57,  and  in  order  to  avoid  the 
assumption  of  the  existence  of  another  unknown  era 
with  approximately  the  same  starting-point,  we  are 
justified  in  provisionally  treating  the  Takht-i-Bahal 
inscription  as  being  dated  in  that  era.  This  theory  is, 
as  Mr.  Rapson  has  observed,  “ supported  by  every 
recent  discovery”  ( Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society 
for  1900,  p.  389). 

‘On  this  assumption,  the  date  of  the  Takht-i-Bahal 
inscription  is  103  — 57  — A.D.  46,  the  26th  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  Gondophares.  His  accession  therefore 
occurred  twenty-five  years  earlier,  or  in  A.D.  21.  This 
date,  which  is  certainly  close  to  the  truth,  is  a most 
valuable  resting-place  in  the  troubled  sea  of  Indian 
chronology.’ 

In  the  light,  then,  of  the  present-day  advance  in 
Indian  archaeological  research,  the  Vikrama  era,  which 
began  in  B.C.  58,  February  or  March,  the  first  year 
ending  in  B.C.  57,  is,  we  may  now  say,  almost  unani- 
mously accepted  to  be  the  era  of  the  Takht-i-Bahi 
record,  though  at  one  time  there  had  been  some  doubt. 
Since  Indian  chronology  only  reckons  completed  years, 
the  beginning  of  Gondophares’  reign  falls  in  A.D.  21 
and  that  of  the  inscription  is  A.D.  46.  If  the  reign  of 
Gondophares  be  extended  to  forty  years — no  exceptional 
reckoning  for  that  period — it  would  bring  us  down  to 
A.D.  60.  From  what  has  been  shown  above,  the  numis- 
matic tokens  on  the  Gondophares  coins  demand  approxi- 
mately a similar  date — the  middle,  or  a little  after,  of  the 


16  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


first  century ; the  date  fits  in  mutually  with  the  proba- 
bilities of  the  case  and  the  possibility  that  the  Apostle 
Saint  Thomas  may  have  come  in  contact  with  the  king 
then  reigning. 

But  did  they  meet  ? 

To  suggest  an  answer  to  such  a question  the  reader 
should  first  bear  in  mind  that,  until  the  coins  were 
found,  no  historical  or  other  indication  was  known  to 
exist  that  there  had  ever  been  a king  bearing  the  name 
of  Gondophares,  or  that  he  had  reigned  over  any  part  of 
India,  except  and  only  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas.  Whether 
that  statement  was  true  or  false,  nothing  could  fairly  be 
said  for  or  against  it,  though — as  has  often  happened  in 
similar  cases — it  had  been  put  down  to  legendary  fiction. 
Now,  when  suddenly,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
that  name  is  deciphered  on  coins  found  in  India  and  the 
borderland,  and  when  this  is  further  supported  by  the 
discovery  of  an  Indian  inscription  bearing  the  name  in 
ancient  Gandhara,  it  is  impossible  to  resist  the  conclusion 
that  the  writer  of  the  Acts  must  have  had  information 
based  on  contemporary  history.  For  at  no  later  date 
could  a forger  or  legendary  writer  have  known  the 
name.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  a later  writer, 
drawing  on  his  imagination  for  facts,  persons,  localities, 
and  incidents,  could  have  brought  about  the  coincidence 
of  two  personages,  one  of  whom  was  unknown  to  living 
history,  fitting  the  circumstances  of  place,  persons,  duty, 
and  time,  so  aptly  as  occurs  in  this  case.  On  this  ground 
we  maintain  there  is  every  reason  to  conclude  that  the 
Apostle  Thomas  had  entered  King  Gondophares’  do- 
minions in  the  course  of  his  apostolic  career. 

The  credit  of  first 1 drawing  the  attention  of  scholars 

1 Not  conscious  of  this  earlier  discovery  by  the  French  savant 
of  the  connection  between  the  newly-discovered  coins  of  the  king  and 
the  record  of  the  Acts,  Cunningham  thought  himself  justified  in  sup- 
posing that  he  ‘was  the  first  to  draw  attention  in  1854’  (his  Coins  of 
the  I ndo- Scythians,  p.  16)  to  that  connection. 


GONDOPHARES  THE  INDIAN  KING 


!7 

to  the  connection  between  the  coins  of  Gondophares  and 
the  Acts  of  Thomas  is  due  to  M.  Reinaud,  who  put  it 
forward  in  1848,  in  his  Memoire  Geographique  Historique 
et  Scientifique  sur  l' Inde  (. Memoire  de  l' Institut  National 
de  France , tom.  xviii.,  ii.  partie — tirage  a part,  1849, 
p.  94  f.).  He  therein  says  that  'of  the  number  of  Indo- 
Scythian  kings  who  reigned  in  the  valley  of  the  Indus 
shortly  after  Kanerkes,  coins  recently  discovered  offer 
the  name  of  a prince  called  Gondophares.  Specimen 
coins  of  this  series  are  to  be  seen  at  Paris  in  the  Biblio- 
theque  Nationale.  A tradition,  according  to  the  first 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  asserts  that  the  Apostle 
Thomas  went  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  India,  and  that 
he  suffered  martyrdom  on  the  Coromandel  coast.  Now 
the  Acts  of  Thomas,  which  have  come  down  to  us  both 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  mention  the  name  of  a king  of  the 
interior  of  the  peninsula  called  Gondaphorus,  .TWSa^opo?. 
. . . But  the  name  of  Gondophorus  is  only  to  be  found 
in  a certain  class  of  coins  ; and  the  Acts  of  Thomas  are 
the  sole  written  document  which  reproduces  it.  Are  we 
then  not  authorised  to  believe  that  here  we  are  really 
dealing  with  the  Apostle  Thomas,  and  with  an  Indo- 
Scythian  prince,  his  contemporary  ? ' 


B 


CHAPTER  II 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA 
I. — The  Witness  of  St.  Ephraem  and  Others 

Owing  to  the  frequent  wars  waged  between  the  Roman 
Empire  and  the  powers  ruling  east  of  the  Euphrates, 
whether  Parthian  or  Persian,  from  some  time  before 
/•  the  dawn  of  Christianity  to  even  after  the  fifth  century 
and  later,  communication  between  Europe,  Western 
Asia,  and  the  countries  beyond  the  Euphrates  was 
generally  cut  off  for  long  periods,  and,  when  open,  was 
of  the  most  fitful  character.  In  ecclesiastical  history 
we  find  a singular  fact  which  illustrates  the  truth  of 
this  statement.  In  the  year  a.d.  139  Achadabues  and 
Kam-Jesu,  alias  Job-Jesu,  were,  at  the  dying  request 
of  Jacob,  the  Bishop  of  Seleucia-Ctesiphon,  sent  to  An- 
tioch in  order  that  one  of  the  two  might  be  chosen 
and  appointed  his  successor  (Barhebraeus,  Chronicon 
Ecclesiasticum , Abbeloos  and  Lamy's  edition,  3 vols., 
Lovanii,  1872-77,  vol.  iii.,  col.  24;  and  Assemani, 
Bibliotheca  Orientalis,  in  4 vols.  fob,  Romae,  1719-28, 
vol.  ii.  p.  396,  and  vol.  iv.  p.  41),  for  the  ecclesiastical 
usage  then  prevailing  required  that  the  person  elected 
to  the  see  should  receive  consecration  at  the  hands  of 
the  Bishop  of  Antioch.  On  their  arrival  at  Antioch,  the 
two  candidates  were  denounced  as  Persian  spies  to  the 
authorities.  Both  were  seized,  but  Achadabues  escaped 
to  Jerusalem,  while  his  companion,  Kam-Jesu,  and  his 
host  were  executed  as  spies  by  the  prefect  or  governor 
of  the  city.  This  sad  event  naturally  led  to  a change 

18 


Cathedral  of  San  Thome,  Mylapore 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  19 

of  the  ecclesiastical  rule  in  the  case  of  the  see  of 
Seleucia-Ctesiphon. 

The  occurrence  shows  how  political  difficulties 
hindered  and  made  it  impossible  to  keep  up  any  inter- 
course between  the  churches  within  the  Roman  Empire 
and  those  under  barbarian  sway  beyond  the  border  in 
the  Far  East.  It  is  owing  to  this,  no  doubt,  that  so 
little  of  regular  history  has  been  handed  down  to  us 
through  the  ordinary  channels  of  Western  Church 
records  regarding  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles,  the 
doings  of  their  disciples  in  the  sub-apostolic  age,  and 
the  foundation  of  churches  outside  the  Empire,  especially 
in  the  Far  East.  On  the  other  hand,  regarding  such 
apostles  and  their  disciples  as  worked  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  Roman  Empire — even  apart  from 
what  the  canonical  books  mention  — a good  deal  of 
general  history  and  some  circumstantial  details  have 
found  their  way  down  to  us  ; though  on  looking  closely 
into  the  subject,  it  will  be  noticed  the  limits  of  even 
such  information  do  not  extend  beyond  the  basin  and 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

If,  then,  any  morsels  of  information  regarding  the 
apostolic  and  sub-apostolic  age  have  escaped  the  general 
havoc  wrought  by  the  Mahomedan  and  Mongholian 
hordes  in  the  East,  we  can  only  hope  to  recover  them 
by  careful  search  among  the  Syriac  records  still  existing 
in  the  far  eastern  churches  and  monasteries.  Guided 
by  this  conviction  we  have  for  years  devoted  our  efforts 
towards  recovering  from  Syrian  sources  whatever  may 
cast  a gleam  of  light  upon  the  Indian  Apostolate  of 
Saint  Thomas.  Though  it  has  involved  long  and  patient 
research  to  follow  up  every  clue  and  to  collect 
together  every  scrap  of  information  recovered  from 
the  treasure-house  of  the  East,  and  to  re-set  it  in  its 
proper  place,  we  now  feel  ourselves  in  a position  to 
place  before  the  reader  results  which  we  believe  to  be 


20  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


well  worthy  of  serious  attention.  These  results,  we 
think,  will  throw  new  light  on  a subject  which — owing 
largely  to  contentious  discussions — appears  to  have  be- 
come more  and  more  involved  in  doubt.  In  this  we 
may  well  see  a just  retribution  of  Providence.  The 
Apostle  who  had  stood  in  the  full  light  of  the  public 
life  and  miracles  of  our  Lord  was  nevertheless  capable 
of  doubt  when  His  resurrection  was  announced;  so 
also  the  field  of  the  same  Apostle’s  labours  has  been 
shrouded  with  unnecessary  doubt.  It  will  be  an  ample 
satisfaction  if  we  can  remove  all  reasonable  doubt  as 
to  the  main  facts. 

The  earliest  author  of  the  Eastern  Church,  whose 
recovered  writings  serve  to  remove  it,  is  the  Deacon 
J Saint  Ephraem,  the  Great  Doctor  of  the  Syrian  Church. 
\ He  was  a native  of  the  city  of  Nisibis,  and  had  lived 
there  up  to  A.D.  363,  when  the  surrender  of  that 
town  by  the  Emperor  Jovian  to  Sapor,  the  King  of 
Persia,  took  place  after  the  death  of  his  predecessor, 
Julian  the  Apostate,  and  the  partial  defeat  of  the  army 
under  the  same.  The  Saint  then  retired  to  Edessa, 
which  had  become  the  frontier  town  of  the  Empire 
(see  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  History , Bohn’s  ed.,  1862, 

/bk.  xxv.  chap.  viii.  p.  397).  As  the  Relics  of  the  Apostle 
Thomas  had  been  treasured  in  that  city  from  an  early 
period,  and  as  Ephraem  had  lived  there  for  fully  ten 
years  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  summer*  of 
373,  it  certainly  seemed  strange  that  in  the  numerous 
published  works  of  so  prolific  a writer — in  those  which 
fill  six  folio  volumes  of  the  Roman  edition  by  Assemani, 
and  in  minor  works  subsequently  published — no  direct 
evidence  could  be  found  regarding  the  Indian  labours 
of  the  Apostle,  so  specially  venerated  in  the  very  city 
in  which  Ephraem  resided,  the  city  which,  largely  owing 
to  his  influence,  became  the  general  centre  of  Syrian 
literature.  It  was  not  until  past  the  middle  of  the 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  21 

nineteenth  century  that  such  evidence  was  forth- 
coming. 

’ The  first  writing  of  Ephraem  which  threw  clear 
light  on  this  subject  appeared  in  1866.  It  is  No.  42  of 
his  Carmina  Nisibena,  so  styled  by  the  editor  Bickell, 
because  they  refer  chiefly  to  the  city  of  Nisibis.  The 
hymn  in  question  consists  of  ten  strophes,  and  is  com- 
posed in  form  not  unlike  that  of  Greek  and  Latin 
odes,  with  a ‘ refrain ' to  be  sung  after  each  strophe. 
Ephraem  composed  most  of  his  hymns  that  they  should 
be  sung  at  the  public  services  of  the  Church.  Bickell 
( S . Ephraemi  Syri,  Carmina  Nisibena , Lipsiae,  1866,  In- 
troduction, p.  33)  remarks  : ‘ These  refrains  which 
always  contain  a prayer,  or  a doxology,  were  un- 
doubtedly sung  by  the  people  in  chorus,  while  the 
hymn  was  sung  as  a solo  by  a cleric.'  This  style  of 
singing  took  its  origin  in  the  Syrian  Church,  and 
Ephraem  composed  his  hymns  in  order  to  prevent  the 
people  continuing  any  longer  to  sing  those  tainted  with 
Gnostic  errors  composed  by  Bardaisan  and  his  son 
Harmonius.1 

1 The  history  of  the  origin  of  the  singing  of  St.  Ephraem’s 
hymns  is  as  follows.  The  saint  had  noticed  that  the  people  were 
in  the  habit  of  singing  the  hymns  composed  by  Harmonius,  the  son 
of  Bardaisan,  and  he  feared  that,  attracted  by  the  melody,  they  would 
gradually  imbibe  the  errors  of  father  and  son.  He  therefore  set 
himself  to  master  the  art  of  poetical  composition  in  his  mother  tongue, 
and  in  the  rhythm  of  Harmonius.  Eventually  he  became  so  great  an 
adept  in  the  art,  that  the  bulk  of  his  numerous  writings  are  actually  in 
metre.  In  the  composition  of  the  Madrashas,  or  hymns,  St.  Ephraem 
adapted  his  to  suit  the  tunes  already  in  popular  use — juxta  numeros 
Harmonii  alios  composuit  libros  (odas)  ; cujusmodi  sunt  ea  quae  in 
Hymnis  et  Encomiis  Sanctorum  virorum  ab  illo  sunt  elaborata — Ex 
eo  tempore  Syri  juxta  numeros  canticorum  Harmonii  scripta  Ephraem 
psallere  solent  (Sozomen,  Hist.  Eccl .,  lib.  iii.  cap.  xvi.). 

Theodoret,  after  saying  that  Ephraem  successfully  refuted  the 
writings  of  heretics,  adds  {Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  xxix.)  : ‘ Et  quoniam 
Harmonius  Bardesanis  filius  cantica  quaedam  olim  composuerat,  et 
modorum  suavitate  impietatem  admiscens,  auditorum  animos  demul- 


22  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  collection  of  hymns  edited  by  Bickell  is  from 
British  Museum  Add.  MS  14572.  The  MS  consists  of 
1 17  folios,  and  is  assigned  by  Bickell  to  the  sixth 
century ; some  folios  of  the  text  have  been  lost,  but 
the  deficiency  is  supplied  from  Add.  MS  17141  (of 
which  more  will  be  said  further  on),  and  from  MS 
I457- 

We  give  a translation  of  the  first  three  strophes  of 
Hymn  42  ; the  remaining  strophes  have  no  direct 
bearing  on  our  subject.  We  may  remark  here  that  in 
our  English  rendering  of  this  hymn  and  of  others  that 
follow  we  have  endeavoured  to  retain  the  divisions 
of  the  original  as  far  as  has  been  possible  ; this,  how- 
ever, was  found  impracticable  in  the  first  and  fourth 
hymn  quoted  : — 


1 

‘(Thus)  howled  the  devil:  into  what  land  shall  I fly  from 
the  just  ? 

‘ I stirred  up  Death  the  Apostles  to  slay,  that  by  their  death 
I might  escape  their  blows. 

‘ But  harder  still  am  I now  stricken  : the  Apostle  I slew  in 
India  has  overtaken  me  in  Edessa ; here  and  there  he  is  all 
himself. 

‘ There  went  I,  and  there  was  he  : here  and  there  to  my  grief 
I find  him. 


cebat  et  ad  exitum  pertrahebat ; ipse  modorum  compositione  ab 
illo  mutuatus  pietatem  canticis  permiscuit  et  suavissimum  simul  ac 
utilissimum  medicamentum  audientibus  exhibuit.  Atque  haec  cantica 
festos  martyrum  dies  laetiores  ac  splendidiores  etiamnum  efficiunt. 
St.  Jerome  subjoins  (De  viris  illustr.,  cap.  1 1 5) : ‘Ad  tantam  venit 
claritudinem  ut  post  lectionem  Scripturarum,  publice  in  quibusdam 
ecclesiis  ejus  [Ephraemi]  scripta  recitentur.’  See  also  Assemani, 
Bibl.  Or.,  i.  pp.  47-48.  For  further  proof  that  St.  Ephraem  taught 
the  singing  of  hymns  in  the  churches,  see  Lamy,  S'.  Ephr.,  Hyvmi 
et  Sermon.,  iv.,  praef.,  p.  xx.  See  also  Rubens  Duval’s  La  Litera- 
ture Syriaque,  Paris,  1900,  pp.  18-21  of  2nd  ed. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  23 


u 

‘ The  merchant  brought  the  bones : 1 nay,  rather  ! they 
brought  him.  Lo,  the  mutual  gain  ! 

‘ What  profit  were  they  to  me,  while  theirs  was  the  mutual 
gain  ? Both  brought  me  loss. 

‘ Who  will  show  me  the  casket  of  Iscariot,  whence  courage 
I derived? 

‘ But  the  casket  of  Thomas  is  slaying  me,  for  a hidden  power 
there  residing,  tortures  me. 

1 That  the  removal  of  the  Relics  of  Thomas  from  India  to 
Edessa  was  effected  by  a merchant  is  asserted  not  only  in  this  hymn 
but  also  repeatedly  in  the  quotations  that  follow.  St.  Ephraem  does 
not  give  us  the  name  of  the  merchant,  but  it  is  found  in  the  Chaldean 
Martyrology,  preserved  by  the  Nestorians.  The  Rev.  A.  J.  Maclean 
in  the  last  chapter  of  his  book,  The  Catholicos  of  the  East  and  his 
People  (London,  1892),  treating  of  the  ‘ Kalendar,  Fasts  and  Festivals, 
Sundays’  of  the  ‘Eastern  Syrian  Christians  (known  also  as  Nestorians),’ 
gives  at  pp.  346-352  the  contents  of  the  ‘East  Syrian  Kalendar.’  We 
reproduce  from  the  feasts  of  saints  (p.  350)  the  first  section  of  the 
Kalendar  to  enable  the  reader  the  better  to  judge  of  the  antiquity 
and  authority  of  the  same  : — 

Old  Style 

January  1. — Mar  Shalita  (obsolete  ; see  September  19). 

January  24. — St.  George’s  companions,  martyrs  (obsolete). 

March. — First  Wednesday.  St.  George,  martyr. 

April  15. — Mar  Shimun  Barseba’i,  Catholicos  (obsolete). 

April  24. — St.  George,  martyr.  A great  festival. 

April  27. — St.  Christopher,  martyr,  and  St.  George  (obsolete). 

May. — First  Tuesday.  Sons  of  Shmuni  (2  Macc.  vii.).  Universally 
observed. 

May  15. — St.  Mary. 

July  3. — St.  Thomas,  who  ‘was  pierced  with  a lance  in  India. 
His  body  is  at  Urhai  (Edessa),  having  been  brought  there  by  the 
merchant  Khabin.’  A great  festival. 

July  15. — St.  Cyriac  (‘Mar  Quriaqus,  whom  Halinus  killed  in 
Persia,  and  Diuliti,  his  mother.’)  Ruinart  in  his  ‘Acta  Martyrum 
Sincera’  (p.  477)  says  that  Cirycus  and  Julitta  died  at  Tarsus  about 
305  a.d.  The  Greeks  keep  their  festival  on  this  day,  but  the  Latins 
on  June  16. 

July  29. — St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  (obsolete). 

The  reader  will  understand  that  the  remarks  between  brackets  are 
those  of  the  editor,  and  the  dates  in  italics  represent  the  Syriac  dates 


24  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


hi 

‘ With  profit  Moses,  the  elect,  in  faith  transported  bones.1 

‘ If  then  so  great  a Prophet  held  that  help  from  bones  could 
be  obtained,  rightly  did  the  merchant  believe  the  same,  and 
rightly  a merchant  he  styled  himself. 

‘ The  merchant  has  made  a profit,  has  become  great  and 
rules. 

‘ His  treasury  has  greatly  impoverished  me,  for  to  Edessa  it  is 
open,  and  the  great  city  by  his  aid  is  enriched.’ 

The  second  quotation  we  give  is,  like  the  preceding, 
from  a Madraska,  or  Hymn  of  St.  Ephraem.  It  is 

of  the  MS.,  while  those  bearing  the  sign  of  quotation,  as  at  July  3 
and  15,  are  verbatim  quotations  of  the  MS.  In  the  extract  given 
above  three  festivals  bear  the  note  ‘a  great  festival’ — (1)  that  of 
Thomas  the  Apostle,  (2)  that  of  St.  George,  and  (3)  that  of  St.  Cyriac. 
SS.  George  and  Cyriac  are  both  greatly  venerated  among  Syrians, 
and  their  names  are  very  commonly  borne  by  the  Christians.  The 
extract,  we  venture  to  think,  will  of  itself  disclose  the  fact,  that  these 
festivals  are  those  of  primitive  martyrs  venerated  in  the  East,  for 
only  such  were  entered  in  the  earliest  Church  Calendars.  The  MS 
used  by  Mr.  Maclean  is  dated  A.D.  1443,  14th  May,  but  it  is  obviously 
a copy  of  an  ancient  Kalendar. 

Mention  is  also  made  of  the  removal  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  from 
India  to  Edessa  by  Solomo  (Solomon),  bishop  of  Bassorah  c.  1222 
{The  Book  of  the  Bee , edited  with  English  translation  by  E.  A.  Wallis 
Budge,  Clarendon  Press,  1886,  being  part  ii.  vol.  i.  of  Semitic  Series 
of  ‘ Anecdota  Oxoniensia ’).  He  writes  (chap.  48,  p.  105) : ‘Thomas 
. . . because  he  baptised  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  the  Indians, 
he  (the  king)  stabbed  him  with  a spear  and  he  died.  Habban,  the 
merchant,  brought  his  body  and  laid  it  in  Edessa.’  This  is  the 
name  of  Gondophares’  messenger,  who  is  said  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas 
to  have  taken  him  to  India,  and  likely  enough  wrongly  introduced 
in  place  of  Khabin.  In  such  matters  the  reading  given  by  a Martyro- 
logy  must  carry  greater  weight ; besides,  the  similarity  in  sound  may 
have  induced  a transcriber  to  make  the  substitution. 

1 Regarding  the  removal  of  the  bones  of  Joseph  (see  Gen.  1. 
24,  25  ; Exod.  xiii.  19  ; Josh.  xxiv.  32,  referred  to  in  Acts  vii.  16),  the 
authority  of  Moses  is  brought  forward  in  support  of  the  practice  of 
the  Church  in  venerating  the  remains  of  God’s  martyrs  and  saints, 
and  the  words  of  St.  Ephraem  disclose  the  early  practice  and  belief 
of  the  Syrian  Church. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  25 

published  by  the  learned  Syriac  scholar,  Monsignor 
Lamy,  of  the  University  of  Louvain,  in  his  S.  Ephraemi 
Syri  Hymni  et  Sermones , four  volumes  in  quarto.  He 
devoted  to  his  researches  for  the  material  and  to  the 
editing  of  the  last  volume,  from  which  the  further 
quotations  are  taken,  ten  years  of  labour  (vol.  iv., 
Mechliniae,  1902,  col.  694  seq.).  The  hymn  we  are 
now  going  to  quote  is  taken  from  British  Museum 
Add.  MS  17141,  folio  85  ; Wright  ( Catalogue  of  Syriac 
MSS  in  the  British  Museum , pp.  359-363)  assigns 
the  MS  to  the  eighth  or  ninth  century  : it  contains  a 
large  collection  of  hymns  ascribed  to  Ephraem,  Isaac  of 
Antioch,  and  Jacob  of  Batnae  (Sarug). 

The  Breviary  according  to  the  Rite  of  the  Church  of 
Antioch  of  the  Syrians,  seven  quarto  volumes,  published 
1886-1896  at  Mosul,  at  the  press  of  the  Dominican 
Fathers,  also  contains  strophes  1-2,  6-7,  10  of  this  hymn 
in  vol.  vi.  p.  631.  This  Breviary,  compiled  from  ancient 
codices,  was  edited  chiefly  by  a learned  Eastern  scholar, 
the  late  Clement  David,  Archbishop  of  Damascus,  a 
student  of  the  Propaganda  College.  After  his  death 
the  work,  the  materials  for  which  he  had  prepared, 
was  carried  through  the  press  by  his  collaborators. 
These  volumes  contain  a large  collection  of  hymns 
and  liturgical  prayers  of  great  value,  and,  as  Mon- 
signor Lamy  remarks,  they  offer  a better  text  than 
even  the  old  Nitrian  codices  of  the  British  Museum. 
We  take  this  early  opportunity  to  express  our  deep 
and  sincere  acknowledgments  for  his  kindness  in 
sending  us  advance  sheets  of  the  fourth  volume 
above  mentioned,  containing  the  hymns  we  are  going 
to  quote  from  ; we  also  wish  to  thank  him  for 
much  additional  help  given  without  stint  whenever 
applied  to. 

The  hymn  now  in  question  contains  seventeen 


26  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


strophes  or  stanzas  ; we  offer  an  English  version  of  the 
last  seven 


On  Thomas  the  Apostle 


XI 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  Thomas,  the  Twin,  in  thy  deeds ! twin  is 
thy  spiritual  power ; nor  one  thy  power,  nor  one  thy  name : 

‘ But  many  and  signal  are  they ; renowned  is  thy  name  among 
the  Apostles. 

‘ From  my  lowly  state  thee  I haste  to  sing. 

XII 

1 Blessed  art  thou,  O Light,  like  the  lamp,  the  sun  amidst 
darkness  hath  placed ; the  earth  darkened  with  sacrifices’  fumes 
to  illuminate. 

‘A  land  of  people  dark  fell  to  thy  lot  that  these  in  white 
robes  thou  shouldest  clothe  and  cleanse  by  baptism : a tainted 
land  Thomas  has  purified. 

XIII 

* Blessed  art  thou,  like  unto  the  solar  ray  from  the  great  orb ; 
thy  grateful  dawn  India’s  painful  darkness  doth  dispel. 

‘Thou  the  great  lamp,  one  among  the  Twelve,  with  oil  from 
the  Cross  replenished,  India’s  dark  night  floodest  with  light. 

XIV 

‘ Blessed  art  thou  whom  the  Great  King  hath  sent,  that  India 
to  his  One-Begotten  thou  shouldest  espouse ; above  snow  and 
linen  white,  thou  the  dark  bride  didst  make  fair. 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  who  the  unkempt  hast  adorned,  that  having 
become  beautiful  and  radiant,  to  her  Spouse  she  might  advance. 

xv 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  who  hast  faith  in  the  bride,  whom  from 
heathenism,  from  demons’  errors,  and  from  enslavement  to  sacri- 
fices thou  didst  rescue. 

‘ Her  with  saving  bath  thou  cleansest,  the  sunburnt  thou  hast 
made  fair,  the  Cross  of  Light  her  darkened  shades  effacing. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  27 


XVI 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  O merchant,  a treasure  who  broughtest 
where  so  greatly  it  was  needed ; thou  the  wise  man,  who  to 
secure  the  great  pearl,  of  thy  riches  all  else  thou  givest  ; 

‘ The  finder  it  enriches  and  ennobles : indeed  thou  art  the 
merchant  who  the  world  endowest ! 

XVII 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  O Thrice-Blessed  City ! that  hast  acquired 
this  pearl,  none  greater  doth  India  yield  ; 

‘ Blessed  art  thou,  worthy  to  possess  the  priceless  gem  ! Praise 
to  thee,  O Gracious  Son,  Who  thus  Thy  adorers  dost  enrich  ! ’ 

The  third  quotation  we  offer  is  from  another  hymn 
given  in  the  same  Breviary , vol.  vi.  p.  635,  and  is  taken 
from  col.  704  of  Monsignor  Lamy’s  fourth  volume.  The 
hymn  consists  of  eight  stanzas  ; we  omit  two  : — 

On  Thomas  the  Apostle 

1 

‘ Thomas,  whence  thy  lineage, 

That  so  illustrious  thou  shouldst  become  ? 

A merchant  thy  bones  conveys  ; 

A Pontiff  assigns  thee  a feast ; 1 
A King  a shrine  erects.2 


1 This  is  a reference  to  the  institution  of  the  annual  festival  at 
the  church  of  Edessa  in  honour  of  the  Apostle  : from  Edessa  the 
celebration  of  this  festival  spread  over  the  whole  Christian  world. 
The  feast  kept  by  the  Syrian  churches  is  not  the  festival  of  the 
martyrdom,  but  that  of  the  translation  of  his  Relics  to  Edessa,  and 
this  feast  is  kept  on  the  3rd  of  July,  the  same  day  as  in  former 
times,  as  is  shown  by  the  Nestorian  Calendar  quoted  above,  and 
by  others  that  will  follow.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  this  festival 
is  the  commemoration  of  the  translation  of  the  Relics  under 
Bishop  Cyrus,  when  they  were,  as  will  be  shown  later,  removed  from 
the  old  church,  in  which  they  had  previously  reposed,  to  the  great 
new  church  erected  in  honour  of  St.  Thomas.  The  Chroniccni  Edes- 
senum  assigns  the  translation  to  a.d.  394,  and  gives  the  day  of  the 
month  as  the  22nd  of  August.  So  the  feast  of  the  ‘ Translation,’ 
kept  on  the  3rd  of  July  by  the  Syrian  churches,  must  refer  to  the 
first  arrival,  or  the  ‘ Deposition  ’ of  the  Apostle’s  Bones  in  that  city. 

2 This  possibly  refers  to  the  concluding  statement  in  the  Acts 


28  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


u 

The  bones  the  merchant  hath  brought, 
Over  them  an  outward  watch  he  kept, 
They  from  within  guard  over  him  keep. 
Since  on  divers  trades  he  embarked 
Nothing  so  priceless  did  he  acquire. 

hi 

In  his  several  journeys  to  India, 

And  thence  on  his  returns, 

All  riches,  which  there  he  found, 

Dirt  in  his  eyes  he  did  repute 
When  to  thy  [sacred]  bones  compared. 


VI 

Neither  promised  nor  hoped  for, 

One  thing  more  did  he  [the  creator]  give. 
Lo,  in  India  thy  wonders,* 1 
In  our  land  thy  triumph, 

Everywhere  thy  festival. 


of  Thomas.  King  Mazdai  (Misdeus)  is  there  stated  to  have  opened 
the  grave  of  the  Apostle,  and  not  finding  his  bones,  took  some  of 
the  dust  and  applied  it  to  his  son,  and  thus  delivered  him  from  the 
devil’s  possession.  After  this  the  king  may  perhaps  have  become  a 
Christian,  and  have  joined  the  brethren  under  Sifur.  If  so,  he  would 
probably  be  the  founder  of  the  first  church  built  over  the  original 
tomb  of  the  Apostle  at  the  town  now  known  as  Mylapore.  It  is  to 
some  such  tradition  that  Ephraem  appears  to  refer. 

1 From  this  it  would  appear  that  in  Ephraem’s  time  merchants 
who  had  visited  the  Indian  shrine  brought  back  reports  of  miracles 
wrought  there,  and  of  favours  obtained  : this  is  also  implied  in  the 
Nisibine  hymn  quoted  above.  Thus  also  Marco  Polo  and  others  bear 
witness  to  similar  occurrences  at  a later  period,  as  will  be  seen  in  a 
subsequent  chapter.  Ephraem  moreover  expressly  affirms  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Edessa  were  aware  of  miracles  and  favours  granted 
in  their  city,  and  that  the  fame  of  St.  Thomas  had  spread  far  and 
wide. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA 


29 


VII 

Wonders  during  life  thou  performest, 

These,  after  death,  thou  still  continuest : 

Under  great  bodily  fatigue 
In  one  region  only  didst  thou  heal. 

Now,  everywhere,  without  labour  thou  dost  cure. 

VIII 

As  thou  wast  taught  [by  the  Lord], 

With  the  sign  of  the  Cross  and  oil  thou  didst  heal ; 

But  now,  without  speech,  demons  thou  expellest ; 
Without  speech  human  ills  thou  curest ; 

Without  prayer  the  dead  do  arise.’ 

Our  fourth  quotation  from  St.  Ephraem  comes  also 
from  the  Breviary,  vol.  vi.  p.  638.  In  Monsignor  Lamy’s 
fourth  volume  it  will  be  found  at  col.  706.  It  consists 
of  six  strophes  ; we  quote  only  three  : — 

On  Thomas  the  Apostle 

I 

‘ The  One-Begotten  his  Apostles  chose, 

Among  them  Thomas,  whom  he  sent 
To  baptize  peoples  perverse,  in  darkness  steeped. 

A dark  night  then  India’s  land  enveloped, 

Like  the  sun’s  ray  Thomas  did  dart  forth ; 

There  he  dawned,  and  her  illumined. 

II 

What  dweller  on  earth  was  ever  seen, 

But  Thomas,  the  Lord’s  Apostle, 

On  earth  designing  and  a dwelling  in  Heaven  erecting  ? 1 

Or  on  earth  who  so  wise  was  found 

Here  of  his  genius  essaying 

What  in  Heaven  a crowning  secures  ? 


1 Ephraem  refers  to  a vision  related  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas.  It 
was  the  vision  of  a beautiful  building  in  heaven  which  the  Apostle 


30  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


v 

The  client  of  Thomas  needs  not  men  his  praises  to  sing : 
Great  is  the  crowd  of  his  martyred  followers. 


had  erected  by  his  preachings  and  good  works  in  India.  See  Wright’s 
translation  of  the  Syriac  Acts,  p.  162  ; and  pp.  141-142  of  Max 
Bonnet’s  Acta.  In  the  Acts  the  building  to  be  erected  is  called  a 
palace,  while  Ephraem  speaks  of  a dwelling  ; the  reader  will  keep  in 
mind  that  while  Thomas  saw  a palace  in  heaven  in  a dream,  he  was 
asked  by  the  king  to  build  him  a mansion  for  his  dwelling. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  stone  houses  existed  in  Southern  India 
in  those  days.  There  seem,  however,  to  have  been  stone  temples, 
and  possibly  there  may  have  been  some  of  these  even  in  Malabar. 
Buildings  of  burnt  brick  are  of  comparatively  recent  date.  Prior 
to  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  on  the  Malabar  coast  the  houses 
of  a superior  class  were  built  of  teak-wood,  and  used  to  last 
upwards  of  400  years  when  kept  well  tarred  on  the  outside,  in 
spite  of  the  very  heavy  annual  rainfall  (120  inches)  in  that  part 
of  India.  In  support  of  our  statement  we  may  quote  two  authori- 
ties— Jarric  ( Indicarum  Reruin , tom.  iii.  lib.  ii.  cap.  v.  pp.  50-51) 
gives  part  of  a letter  by  James  Fenicio,  a Jesuit  missionary  in 
the  Zamorin’s  territory.  This  letter  is  our  earliest  authority ; 
as  quoted  above  it  has  no  date,  but  evidently  belongs  to  the 
period  between  1600  and  1607.  The  missionary  had  obtained  per- 
mission to  erect  four  churches  in  the  Zamorin’s  territory  : ‘ I devoted 
all  the  remaining  available  time  to  the  erection  of  these  churches, 
and  to  the  Christian  inhabitants  of  this  village  [Palur].  I used  to  give 
them  instructions  as  I chanced  to  meet  them.  As  the  church  of 
Palur  dedicated  to  Saint  Cyriac  [Syr.  Quriaqus],  which  was  the  oldest 
{primus)  among  all  the  churches  in  Malabar,  and  renowned  for 
favours  and  graces  obtained,  and  for  this  reason  much  frequented, 
I devoted  myself  more  especially  to  it.  The  stone  church  which  I 
began  two  years  ago  [enclosing,  apparently,  within  it  the  primitive 
building]  had  risen  to  the  height  of  the  windows.  At  this  stage  no 
one  would  dare  to  pull  down  the  old  wooden  building,  fearing  to  be 
struck  down  by  sudden  death  : it  stood  surrounded  by  the  walls  of 
the  new  erection,  but  after  I had  prayed  and  removed  their  timidity, 
the  old  structure  was  pulled  down,  and  the  new  building  stood  out  in 
such  fine  proportions  that  the  Hindus,  the  Mahomedans,  and  the  Jews 
flocked  to  see  it.’  This  is  one  of  the  Seven  churches  traditionally 
assigned  to  the  time  when  Saint  Thomas  preached  in  Malabar.  The 
wooden  structure  must  undoubtedly  have  been  very  old,  and  con- 
structed no  doubt  of  teak,  which  formerly  grew  all  over  the  country, 
even  in  comparatively  recent  times  : at  that  early  age  the  supply  must 
have  been  very  plentiful.  Our  second  authority  is  the  Carmelite  mis- 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  31 

Lo,  his  Bones,  his  Passion,  his  Work  proclaim  ;*  1 
His  Miracles,  him  yet  alive  assert ; 

His  Deeds  the  rough  Indian  convinced. 

Who  dares  doubt  the  truth  of  his  Relics  ? ’ 

The  passages  given  above  from  the  four  Madrashas 
of  Ephraem  establish  certain  points  as  matters  of  history. 
This  they  do  in  spite  of  the  limitations  imposed  by 
poetical  language.  The  points  established  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

A. — By  the  Nisibine  hymn  42. 

(1)  Thomas  the  Apostle  suffered  martyrdom  in  India  (Strophe 

(2)  His  body  was  buried  in  India  (1.). 

(3)  His  bones  were  thence  removed  by  a merchant  to  the 

city  of  Edessa  (ii.-ni.). 

(4)  His  power  and  influence  were  felt  in  both  places  (i.-n.). 

B. — By  the  first  hymn  given  by  Monsignor  La  my. 

(1)  Thomas  was  a lamp  placed  in  darkness  to  illuminate  the 

earth  filled  with  the  smoke  of  false  sacrifices  (xn.). 

(2)  It  was  to  a land  of  dark  people  he  was  destined,  to  clothe 

them  by  baptism  in  white  robes,  and  to  purify  the 
tainted  land  (xn.). 

(3)  His  grateful  dawn  dispelled  India’s  painful  darkness  (xni.). 


sionary  Paulinus  a Sancto  Bartholomaeo  (often  wrongly  quoted  as 
Poli)  in  his  Viaggio  alle  Indie  Orientali  (Roma,  1796,  pt.  i.  chap.  viii. 
p.  1 12  f.) : ‘ The  greater  part  of  the  houses  in  Malabar  [this  was  written 
at  the  close  of  the  xviiith  century]  are  built  of  teak-wood,  which  in 
weight  [and  durability  excels  oak.  This  wood  is  imperishable.  I 
have  seen  many  houses  built  400  years  back,  which  showed  no  signs 
of  decay.’ 

1 In  these  words  Ephraem  brings  us  practically  face  to  face 
with  realities.  There  is  no  longer  anything  vague  or  general  as  in 
the  preceding  reference  to  the  ‘ building  ’ the  Apostle  was  erecting  : 
but  now  we  come  to  the  realities  of  his  martyrdom,  his  preachings, 
his  conversion  of  the  Indians,  his  miracles  after  death.  No  wonder, 
then,  that  St.  Ephraem  exclaims  : 1 Who  dares  doubt  the  truth  of 
his  Relics  ?’ 


32  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


(4)  He,  one  of  the  Twelve,  like  a great  lamp  with  oil  from 

the  Cross  replenished,  flooded  India’s  dark  night  with 
light  (xiii.). 

(5)  It  was  his  mission  to  espouse  India  to  the  One-Begotten  : 

this  he  did  by  making  the  unkempt  beautiful  and 
radiant  for  the  Bridegroom’s  acceptance  (xiv.). 

(6)  He  had  faith  in  the  Bride,  so  he  rescued  her  from 

demons’  errors;  the  sunburnt  he  made  fair  with  light 
from  the  Cross  (xv.). 

(7)  The  merchant  is  blessed  for  having  brought  so  great  a 

treasure  to  a place  where  it  was  greatly  needed  (xvi.). 

(8)  Edessa  thus  became  the  blessed  city  by  possessing  the 

greatest  pearl  India  could  yield  (xvii.). 

C.  — By  the  second  hymn  given  by  Monsignor  Lamy. 

(1)  Thomas  suddenly  attains  great  honour,  because  his 

Bones  are  conveyed  from  India  by  a merchant;  a 
Pontiff  assigns  a Feast  in  his  honour;  a King  erects  a 
Shrine  to  his  memory  (i.-iii.). 

(2)  Thomas  works  miracles  in  India  and  at  Edessa;  and 

his  festival  is  kept  everywhere  (vi.). 

(3)  During  his  life,  with  great  bodily  fatigue,  he  did  good 

and  healed  the  sick  in  one  region  only,  but  now  with- 
out labour  he  does  the  same  everywhere  (vii.). 

(4)  The  traditional  apostolic  custom,  as  taught  or  ordered 

by  the  Lord,  of  healing  with  blessed  oil  and  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  is  mentioned  (vm.). 

D.  — By  the  third  hymn  given  by  Monsignor  Latny. 

(1)  Thomas  is  destined  to  baptize  peoples  perverse  and 

steeped  in  darkness,  and  that  in  the  land  of  India  (1.). 

(2)  Thomas,  the  Lord’s  Apostle,  has  the  singular  power 

of  designing  an  edifice  on  earth,  and  erecting  it  in 
heaven  (11.). 

(3)  Thomas’  praises  are  well  known  : the  result  of  his  apos- 

tolate  is  attested  by  his  martyred  followers;  his  work 
attests  his  teaching;  his  miracles  proclaim  him  living 
in  heaven ; the  rough  Indians  are  converted  by  the 
deeds  they  have  witnessed.  Who,  then,  can  possibly 
doubt  the  truth  of  his  Relics?  (v.). 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  33 

In  order  to  seize  the  full  weight  and  importance  of 
the  above  evidence,  it  is  most  important  for  the  reader 
to  bear  in  mind  that  the  facts  relating  to  the  Apostle 
in  connection  with  his  evangelisation  of  India,  here 
set  forth,  are  not  attested  only  by  the  one  individual, 
Ephraem,  but  carry  with  them  the  assent  of  a whole 
Church,  that  of  Edessa.  Ephraem  was  not  putting 
forward  his  personal  views  on  the  subject,  as  an 
ordinary  writer  would  do,  but  he  embodied  in  these 
hymns  the  local  tradition  and  facts  which  were  of 
common  knowledge  among  the  people.  Moreover,  as 
these  hymns  in  great  part  became  incorporated  in  the 
Liturgy  of  the  Syrian  Church,  and  were  sung  in  that 
Church,  first  at  Edessa,  they  have  received  the  most 
emphatic  support  a Christian  people  can  give  to  facts, 
the  knowledge  of  which  regards  them  in  some  special 
manner. 

The  ancient  Syriac  document  entitled  ‘The  Doctrine 
of  the  Apostles,’  edited  by  Cureton  (. Ancient  Syriac  Docu- 
ments, London,  1864),  and  previously  by  Cardinal  Mai 
{Scriptorum  Veterum  Nova  Collectio , Romae,  1838,  Latin 
translation  by  A.  Assemani,  vol.  x.  pp.  3-8,  text  pp.  169- 
175),  also  by  Lagarde  (. Reliquiae  Juris  Eccles.  Antiquissimi , 
Syriace,  Vindobonae,  1856),  is  akin  to  AtiacncaXia  ra>v 
aTToaToXwv ; there  are  besides  the  Constitutiones  Apos- 
tolicae  in  Latin  ; also  the  Didascalia,  or  ‘ Apostolic  Church 
Ordinances,'  in  Coptic,  Ethiopic,  and  Arabic.  These 
documents  incorporate  the  AiBax>],  or  ‘ The  Two  Ways,' 
but  cover  more  extensive  ground.  The  primal  Didacht , 
to  distinguish  it  from  others  bearing  the  title,  was  dis- 
covered in  a monastic  library  by  the  Greek  bishop, 
Philotheus  Beryennios,  at  Constantinople,  and  published 
in  1883  ; it  may  aptly  be  termed  the  primitive  Manual 
or  Catechism  of  the  Church. 

The  ‘ Doctrine  of  the  Apostles  ’ in  Syriac,  which 
here  concerns  us,  is  earlier  than  others  of  this  class,  the 

C 


34  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

Greek  alone  may  contend  with  it  for  priority.  If  the 
Coptic  can  be  assigned  to  the  third  century,  the  Syriac 
may  well  be  dated  half  a century  earlier.1 

These  writings  contain  a collection  of  ancient  ecclesi- 
astical ordinances  which  obtained  eventually  the  force  of 
Church  canons.  Though  the  Syriac,  Greek,  and  others 
are  akin,  each  has  its  characteristic  traits.  The  Syriac 
heads  the  compilation  of  Synodal  Canons  by  Ebed-Jesu 
of  Soba,  alias  Nisibis,  the  Nestorian  Patriarch,  and  bears 
the  title  Epitome  Canonum  Apostolicorum ; Barhebraeus 
includes  it  in  his  Nomocanon  (also  printed  by  Mai,  ut 
supr.,  vol.  x.  pt.  ii.  p.  31  ff.) 

Cureton  took  his  text  verbatim  from  the  British 
Museum  Add.  MS  14644,  folio  10  ff.  He  supposes  the 
Nitrian  MS  to  be  the  identical  one  which  J.  S.  Assemani 
saw  at  the  monastery  at  Scete,  when  he  visited 
that  place  in  order  to  obtain  MSS  for  the  Vatican 
Library.  Assemani  described  the  MS  as  pervetustus 
(for  details  see  Bibliotheca  Orientalis,  iii.  p.  19,  note). 
As  to  its  date,  Cureton  writes  (p.  147)  : ‘ Its  age  appears 
to  be  certainly  not  later  than  the  beginning  of  the 
fifth  century.’  Dr.  Wright  in  his  Catalogue  of  Syriac 
Marmscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  pt.  ii.  pp.  1083-1084, 
describes  the  same  MS  (14644)  as  follows:  ‘Vellum, 

1 The  following  are  some  of  the  recent  editions  of  these  docu- 
ments : — Syriac — The  Didascalia  Apostolorum , edited  from  a Mesopo- 
tamian MS,  with  Readings  and  Collations  of  other  MSS,  by  Margaret 
Dunlop  Gibson,  Cambridge  University  Press,  London,  1903  ; the  trans- 
lation in  English  by  the  same  lady  {ibid.),  1903 ; the  Syriac  text  of 
the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  Journal  of  Theol.  Studies,  vol.  iii . 
pp.  59-80,  with  notes — the  text  is  taken  from  the  Mesopotamian  MS  of 
the  Syriac  Bible  recovered  from  Malabar  by  Rev.  Claud  Buchanan,  and 
left  to  the  Cambridge  University.  Ethiopic — Didascalia  /Ethiopum 
desumptum  ex  Londinensi,  Thomae  Pell  Platt,  1834,  new  edition, 
London,  1879.  Boharic  text,  edited  by  Tattam ; Sahidic , by  Lagarde ; 
Latin  (fragment),  by  Hauler  ; Arabic — by  Rev.  G.  Horner,  The  Sta- 
tutes of  the  Apostles,  or  Canones  Ecclesiastici,  translation  and  collation 
from  Ethiopic  and  Arabic  MSS  ; also  a translation  of  the  Sahidic,  &c., 
London,  1904. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  35 

about  9§  in.  by  6,  consisting  of  94  leaves,  many  of 
which  are  much  stained.  . . . The  quires  are  11  in 
number,  but  only  one  or  two  are  complete,  leaves 
being  wanted  in  the  beginning,  &c.  This  volume  is 
written  in  a fine  regular  Edessene  hand  of  the  vth  or 
vith  century,  with  the  exception  of  folios  44  and  45, 
which  are  comparatively  modern  and  palimpsest.’ 1 
For  such  a document  to  have  attained  importance 
enough  to  be  incorporated  in  this  ancient  MS,  it 
might  belong  to  the  third  or  very  early  fourth  century. 

We  can  legitimately  use  these  collections  as  wit- 
nesses to  the  ancient  usages,  customs,  and  belief  of 
the  Church  which  adopted  them  to  her  service.  It 
is  then,  in  support  of  the  ancient  belief  of  the  Syrian 
Church,  that  we  quote  from  Cureton's  translation  the 
following  passage  bearing  on  the  traditional  knowledge 
by  that  Church  of  the  apostolic  labours  of  Saint  Thomas. 

At  p.  32:  ‘After  the  death  of  the  Apostles  there 
were  Guides  and  Rulers  in  the  churches,  and  what- 
soever the  Apostles  had  committed  to  them,  and  they 
had  received  from  them,  they  taught  to  the  multitudes 
all  the  time  of  their  lives.  They  again  at  their  deaths 
also  committed  and  delivered  to  their  disciples  after 
them  everything  which  they  had  received  from  the 
Apostles;  also  what  James  had  written  from  Jerusalem, 
and  Simon  from  the  city  of  Rome,  and  John  from 
Ephesus,  and  Mark  from  the  great  Alexandria,  and 
Andrew  from  Phrygia,  and  Luke  from  Macedonia,  and 
Judas  Thomas  from  India;  that  the  epistles  of  an 
Apostle  might  be  received  and  read  in  the  churches, 
in  every  place,  like  those  Triumphs  of  their  Acts  which 
Luke  wrote,  are  read.’ 

Again  at  p.  32  : ‘ India  and  all  its  own  countries, 

1 A later  British  Museum  Add.  MS  1 453 1 , ‘written  in  a 
good  clear  Estrangelo  of  the  viith  or  viiith  century,’  says  Cureton, 
also  contains  the  text. 


I 


(M*1  h 0 : q ^ 

36  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

and  those  bordering  on  it,  even  to  the  farther  sea, 
received  the  Apostles’  Hand  of  Priesthood  from  Judas 
Thomas,  who  was  Guide  and  Ruler  in  the  church  which 
he  built  and  ministered  there.' 

The  text  in  Mai’s  edition  of  the  above  passages  is 
identical. 

A third  passage  which  we  give  below,  though  it  does 
not  refer  to  St.  Thomas,  will  be  found  useful  in  illustrat- 
ing what  follows  and,  moreover,  will  help  the  reader  to 
understand  better  the  early  traditions  of  this  Church 
regarding  apostolic  and  sub-apostolic  preachings  and 
missions.  The  passage  runs  thus  (p.  34)  : — 

‘The  whole  of  Persia  of  the  Assyrians  and  Medes, 
and  of  the  countries  round  about  Babylon,  the  Huzites 
and  the  Gelae,  even  to  the  borders  of  the  Indians, 
and  even  to  the  country  of  Gog  and  Magog,  and  again 
all  the  countries  from  all  sides,  received  the  Apostles’ 
Hand  of  Priesthood  from  Aggaeus,  maker  of  golden 
chains,  the  disciple  of  Addaeus  the  Apostle.  But  the 
rest  of  the  other  fellows  of  the  Apostles  went  to  the 
distant  countries  of  the  Barbarians,'  &c. 

This  is  confirmed  and  expanded  by  what  is  mentioned 
in  the  life  of  St.  Mares,  Bishop  of  Ctesiphon,  in  the  sub- 
apostolic  age,  and  a disciple  of  the  above-mentioned 
Addaeus.  The  Syriac  text  of  this  life,  with  a transla- 
tion in  Latin,  was  published  by  J.  B.  Abbeloos  at 
Brussels  in  1885.  We  read  at  p . 85  : ‘These  were  the 
towns  where  lived  the  traders  from  Huzai  (Susiana,  see 
note  in  situ ) as  they  also  do  now ; there  were  also 
traders  among  the  Persians  ; and  from  both  countries 
they  would  go  to  the  west  for  trade ; and  it  was  there 
that  they  were  brought  to  the  worship  of  God  by  the 
blessed  Apostle  Addaeus.  And  as  these  Huzites  and 
Persian  converts  used  to  return  from  the  west  they 
used  to  make  numerous  conversions  in  the  neighbouring 
countries ; and  from  that  time  dates  the  origin  of  the 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  37 

Church  among  the  Huzites  and  in  Persia.  When  Mar 
Mares  reached  the  country  of  the  Huzites,  and  found 
believers  there,  and  heard  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Persians,  his  heart  was  filled  with  joy  to  find  a small 
quantity  of  wheat  in  extensive  fields  of  tares.  He 
preached  through  that  country  and  converted  many. 
Then  he  descended  still  further  (or  went  still  further) 
until  the  perfume  (or  odour)  of  Mar  Thomas,  the 
Apostle,  was  wafted  unto  him ; and  there  also  he 
added  great  numbers  to  the  fold,  and  left  behind  him 
a disciple  named  Job,  to  minister  to  them.’  The 
biographer  then  makes  Mar  Mares  retrace  his  steps  to 
Ctesiphon.  On  approaching  the  then  outer  boundaries 
of  India  the  biographer  discloses  the  knowledge  that 
Mares  had  come  into  close  proximity  to  the  region 
where  the  Apostle’s  labours  had  been  fruitful. 

We  need  not  give  here  the  testimony  of  Jacob  of 
Sarug  as  to  the  tradition  that  the  Apostle  preached  to 
the  Indians,  as  Jacob’s  poem  on  the  palace  built  by 
Thomas  is  restricted  to  the  events  narrated  in  the 
first  two  acts  or  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  and 
will  be  found  utilised  in  another  section  of  this  book. 

Salomo  gives  the  tradition  of  the  Nestorian  section 
of  tfieSyrian  church  in  his  Book  of  the  Bee.  This  work 
was  edited  with  an  English  translation  by  E.  A.  Wallis 
Budge,  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1886,  and  forms  part 
ii.  of  vol.  i.,  Semitic  Series  of  Anecdota  Oxoniensia.  Mar 
Solomon  was  Metropolitan  of  Perath-Maishan — that  is, 
Bassorah  (Al-Basrah).  Budge  says  in  his  preface  that 
the  author  is  very  little  known  ; he  became  metropolitan 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  united  streams  about  A.D.  1222, 
in  which  year  he  was  present  at  the  consecration  of  the 
Catholicus  or  Nestorian  patriarch  Sabr-isho  ( Hope  in 
Jesus).  (See  Assem.  Bibl.  Or .,  tom.  ii.  p.  453,  no.  75  ; 
also  Barhebraeus,  Chron.  Eccl.,  tom.  ii.  col.  371).  A 
Latin  translation  of  the  book  was  published  by  Dr.  J.  M. 


'ht¥?'tXp- 

38  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

Schoenfelder,  at  Bamberg,  in  1866,  based  on  one  MS. 
We  quote  from  Budge’s  translation,  p.  105,  chap,  xlviii.  : 
‘Thomas  was  from  Jerusalem,  of  the  tribe  of  Juda.  He 
"'taught  the  Parthians,  Medes,  and  Indians  [Oxford  MS., 
in  India  and  Sind  and  Persia] ; and  because  he  baptised 
the  daughter  of  the  King  of  the  Indians,  he  stabbed  him 
with  a spear  and  he  died.  Habban,  the  merchant, 
brought  his  body,  and  laid  it  in  Edessa,  the  blessed 
city  of  our  Lord.  Others  say  that*  Re"  was  buried  in 
Mahlhph,  a city  in  the  land  of  the  Indians  [the  Oxford 
MS  says  he  was  buried  in  India].’ 

II. — The  Witness  of  the  Liturgical  Books  and 
Calendars  of  the  Syrian  Church 

The  extracts  from  the  hymns  of  St.  Ephraem,  given 
in  the  preceding  pages,  some  of  which  are  embodied  also 
in  the  Breviary  above  quoted,  have  already  demonstrated 
to  us  what  was  known  and  believed  by  the  Edessan 
Church,  then  the  head  and  centre  of  the  Syrian  Chris- 
tians, in  regard  to  the  connection  of  the  Apostle  Thomas 
with  India.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mgr.  Lamy,  we 
have  been  favoured  with  additional  extracts  from  the 
same  Breviary,  which  we  now  place  before  the  reader 
(. Breviar .,  tom.  iv.  pp.  427-484)  : — 

The  feast  of  Saint  Thomas  is  fixed  on  the  3rd  of  July. 

From  the  Sedra  : — 

‘O  blessed  Apostle,  valiant  Mar  Thomas,  whom  the  violent 
threats  of  the  King  on  account  of  the  palace  thou  didst  build  for 
him  in  heaven,  did  not  affright. 

‘ Blessed  Apostle,  be  thou  praised,  O Mar  Thomas,  thou 
whose  slavery  secured  freedom  to  the  Indians  and  the  Kushites 
[Ethiopians]  blighted  by  the  evil-doer.’ 

’"Xnd  further  on  : — 

‘ O Apostle  Thomas,  athlete  of  the  faith,  who  preachest  the 
Gospel  and  convertest  peoples  from  their  errors,  and  who  for  the 
love  of  Christ  sufferest  scourges  and  wounds  and  enterest  the 
abode  of  joy.’ 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  39 

A prayer  ascribed  to  Jacob  of  Sarug,  in  verses  of  twelve 
syllables,  like  his  other  metrical  compositions,  contains 
the  following : — 

‘The  Apostle  Thomas  on  leaving  for  India,  parting  from  the 
apostles,  wept  and  moved  them  to  tears. 

‘ He  asked  them  to  implore  the  mercy  of  our  Saviour  to 
assist  and  support  him  in  his  preachings. 

‘ Behold,  he  said,  I go  now  to  a darkened  (blind)  land  as 
architect,  pray  that  I may  erect  a palace  that  may  rise  to  the 
Kingdom  above. 

‘Join  me  in  prayer  that  my  building  may  not  be  cast  down 
by  the  flood. 

‘ O blessed  Thomas,  whom  thy  Lord  hath  sent  as  a torch  to 
illuminate  the  land  shrouded  in  the  darkness  of  error. 

‘ O blessed  one,  thou  goest  forth  as  a ray  of  the  sun  to  dis- 
sipate the  dark  night  of  India. 

‘ O blessed  Thomas,  whom  the  heavenly  bridegroom  hath 
sent  to  unite  unto  him  the  dark  bride  whom  thou  hast  cleansed 
and  made  whiter  than  snow.’ 

At  Matins,  after  the  hymns  of  Ephraem,  given  above, 
a prayer  composed  by  the  same  saint  is  given.  It  is  in 
seven-syllable  verse,  and  contains  the  following  : — 

‘ Blessed  be  he  who  solemnises  thy  commemorative  feast,  O 
bright  Apostle  Mar  Thomas. 

‘Of  thee  He  has  made  a source  of  blessings;  a refuge  for 
all  who  are  in  pain. 

‘ By  thee  He  has  converted  the  Indians  to  the  true  faith  and 
has  baptised  them  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.’ 

Again  in  the  Sedra  of  the  morning  we  read : — 

‘ Kings  and  judges  attend  his  preaching,  are  converted,  and 
quit  their  evil  ways,  and  plunge  into  the  celestial  waters  of 
baptism ; from  black  they  become  fair.  When  the  sick  and  the 
paralysed  approach  him  his  word  restores  them  to  health ; they 
come  to  him  void  of  sight  and  depart  with  sight  restored.  As  the 
sun  lights  up  and  gladdens  the  world,  so  Thomas  the  Apostle 
brightens  and  gladdens  dark  India  by  his  numberless  blessings. 
The  heavenly  hosts  and  the  souls  of  the  just  are  charmed  with 
admiration  when  he  measures  and  marks  out  the  earthly  palace, 
while  his  Lord  completes  it  in  heaven.  While  that  celestial 


40  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


beauty  expanded  itself  the  king  believed  and  was  baptised  with 
the  children  of  his  house  and  the  nobles  of  his  court.’ 

The  Church  of  the  Jacobite  Syrians 

The  following  quotations  from  the  service-books  of 
this  church  are  taken  from  Assemani,  who  gives  the 
traditions  of  the  Syrian  churches  connected  with  the 
Apostle  Thomas  (Bibl.  Or.,  iv.  pp.  30  ff.). 

In  the  Office  of  the  feast  of  Saint  Thomas,  kept  on 
the  3rd  of  July  : — 

‘ The  Lord  sent  him  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  East  Indies 
[in  India  Orientali\'  etc. 

And  also : — 

‘ This  Thomas  whose  memory  we  celebrate,  on  being  sent  to 
India,  was  sold  as  a slave.  . . . While  he  was  designing  the 
splendid  palace,  the  Lord  was  raising  it  up  in  heaven.’ 

Again : — 

‘ Like  unto  his  Master,  pierced  by  a lance,  with  the  honour  of 
the  Apostolate,  he  gained  a martyr’s  crown.’ 

The  Nestorian  Section  of  the  Syrian  Church 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  the  Syrian 
Church  was  one,  with  its  literary  head-centre  at  Edessa. 
Some  time  after  the  outbreak  of  Nestorianism,  the  ex- 
treme eastern  section  of  the  Syrian  Church,  outside  the 
Roman  Empire,  was  captured  by  the  rising  sect  of 
Nestorius.  Later,  Eutychianism,  or  the  Jacobite  heresy, 
as  it  was  subsequently  named  from  Jacob  Baradaeus,  its 
ardent  upholder,  made  a second  breach  in  this  church. 
Centuries  later, the  Maronites  broke  off  from  the  Jacobites, 
and  returned  to  the  centre  of  church  unity.  This  divided 
state  explains  how  the  Nestorian  section,  more  than  any 
other  church,  became  and  remained  closely  related  by 
position  and  intercourse  with  the  centres  of  Christianity 
beyond  the  Euphrates.  The  continued  evidence  borne  by 
that  church  therefore  carries  much  additional  weight. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  41 

In  the  Office  for  the  feast  of  Saint  Thomas,  kept  on 
the  3rd  of  July,  at  Vespers  {Bibl.  Or.  ut  supr.),  we  read  : — 

‘The  Indians  inhaled  the  odour  of  life  by  thy  doctrine,  O 
Thomas,  and  discarding  all  pagan  customs  at  heart  and  externally, 
they  commenced  to  cultivate  chastity.’ 

And  lower  down  : — 

1 The  Lord  has  deigned  to  grant  Saint  Thomas  to  his  faithful 
church  as  a treasure  found  in  India.  . . . who  for  the  faith  was 
by  a lance  pierced.’ 

The  following  occurs  in  the  Canticle  : — 

‘ As  Christ  had  anointed  Peter  to  the  High  Priesthood  of 
Rome,  so  thou  [O  Thomas]  to-day  among  the  Indians  [hast  re- 
ceived the  same  honour].’ 

In  the  Nocturn  we  read 

‘ Thomas  took  the  route  to  India  to  demolish  the  temples  of 
demons,  and  to  extirpate  immorality  prevailing  among  men 
and  women.’ 

We  append  some  further  quotations  from  non- 
Catholic  Syrian  calendars,  published  by  Assemani  (Bib- 
liotheca Vatican.  Codicum  Manuscriptorum  Catalogus, 
tom.  ii.,  from  a Jacobite  calendar,  codex  xxxvii.  p.  250) : — • 

‘ (1)  Tesri — October,  die  6,  Coronado  Thomae  Apostoli  et 
regis  Indiae  et  Misadi,  ejusque  filii  Johannis — et  decern,  &c. 
p.  266. — Tamuz — Julius,  die  3,  Thomae  Apostoli.  p.  271.— Elul 
— September,  die  16,  S.  Thomae  Apostoli. 

‘(2)  From  another  Jacobite  Calendar,  codex  xxxix. : p.  275. 

— Mensis  Tesri  prior — October,  die  6,  Thomae  Apostoli. 

‘(3)  From  a Syrian  Calendar  of  Saints,  codex  xxx.  pp.  114  ff. 

- — p.  1 1 7. — Tisrin  prior-— O ctober,  die  6,  Coronado  Thomae 
Apostoli.  p.  13 1. — Julius  6,  S.  Thomae,’  etc. 

These  entries  will  show  that  the  old  principal  feast  of 
Saint  Thomas,  kept  on  the  3rd  of  July,  gradually  fell  off  i 
in  importance  ; this  happened,  no  doubt,  after  the  de- 
struction of  Edessa,  and  the  disappearance  of  the  Relics 
from  the  city.  Things  have  come  to  such  a pass,  that 
now,  even  at  Edessa,  the  present  Urfa,  no  particular 


42  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

feast,  in  the  popular  sense,  is  any  longer  kept  in  honour 
of  the  saint.  This  we  learnt  lately  at  Rome  from  Syrians 
who  had  newly  arrived  from  Urfa.  The  commingling  of 
the  Syrians  and  Greeks  under  the  new  conditions  pre- 
vailing under  Mahomedan  rule,  brought  about  the  keep- 
ing of  the  feast  on  the  same  day,  October  the  6th,  by  both 
communities,  though,  as  should  be  remarked,  the  old 
date  yet  retains  its  place  in  the  later  calendars.  The 
Armenians  also  now  keep  the  feast  with  the  Greeks  on 
the  6th  of  October. 

III.— The  Witness  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Western  Church 

We  pass  on  now  to  review  the  testimony  given  by 
the  Fathers  of  the  Western  Church  to  the  Indian  apos- 
tolate  of  Saint  Thomas. 

St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus1  (Homil.  xxxiii.,  Contra 
Arianos  et  de  seipso,  cap.  xh,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  vol.  xxxvi., 
2nd  of  Gregory  Naz.  col.  227) : ‘ What  ? Were  not  the 
Apostles  strangers  [foreigners]  amidst  the  many  nations 
and  countries  over  which  they  spread  themselves,  that  the 
Gospel  might  penetrate  into  all  parts,  that  no  place  might 
be  void  of  the  triple  light  or  deprived  of  that  of  truth, 
so  that  the  cloud  of  ignorance  among  them  even  who  sit 
in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  might  be  lifted  ? 
You  have  heard  what  Paul  says  : to  me  was  committed 

1 Gregory  was  bom  A.D.  330,  and  ordained  priest  in  361  ; he 
was  consecrated  bishop  by  his  friend  St.  Basil ; he  did  not  take  up 
the  work  of  a bishop,  but  retired  into  solitude.  In  372,  however,  his 
father,  the  bishop  of  Nazianzus,  induced  him  to  share  his  charge  ; 
his  father  died  soon  afterwards,  and  the  death  of  his  mother  followed 
in  375.  Gregory  then  quitted  Nazianzus,  and  in  379  the  people  of 
Constantinople  called  him  to  be  their  bishop.  In  381  he  resigned 
his  see  and  returned  to  Nazianzus.  There  he  again  exercised  the 
episcopal  office  till  383,  when  Eulalius  was  named  bishop.  Gregory 
died  between  389-390.  By  the  Greeks  he  is  emphatically  termed  the 
‘Theologian’  (Bardenhewer,  Les  Fires  de  PEglise,  French  transl.,  in 
3 vols.,  Paris,  1898,  ii.  pp.  90-105). 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  43 

the  gospel  of  the  uncircumcision , as  to  Peter  was  that  of  the 
circumcision.  Peter  indeed  may  have  belonged  to  Judea  ; 
but  what  had  Paul  in  common  with  the  gentiles,  Luke 
with  Achaia,  Andrew  with  Epirus,  John  with  Ephesus, 
Thomas  with  India,  Mark  with  Italy  ? Not  to  speak  of 
each  separately,  what  had  the  other  Apostles  in  common 
with  the  people  to  whom  they  were  sent  ? ’ 

St.  Ambrose  1 ( Opera  omnia  edidit  Paulus  Angelus 
Ballerini,  Mediolani,  1876,  tom.  ii.,  Enarratio  in  Psalm . 
xlv.  § 21,  cols.  389-390),  after  mentioning  the  civil  wars 
among  the  Triumviri,  continues  : ‘ Making  wars  to  cease 
even  to  the  end  of  the  eartliy  he  shall  destroy  the  bow,  and 
break  the  weapons , and  the  shields  he  shall  burn  in  the  fire 
(Ps.  xlv.  10).  And  in  very  deed  before  the  Roman 
empire  became  expanded,  not  only  were  the  kings  of 
each  city  mutually  at  war,  but  the  Romans  themselves 
were  constantly  weakened  by  civil  strifes.  Whence  it 
came  to  pass  that  wearied  of  civil  wars  the  supreme 
Roman  command  was  offered  to  Julius  Augustus,  and 
so  internecine  strife  was  brought  to  a close.  This,  in 
its  way,  admitted  of  the  Apostles  being  sent  without 

1 Ambrose,  the  son  of  a Pretorian  Prefect  of  Gaul,  was  born 
c 340,  and  was  chosen  bishop  of  Milan,  while  acting  in  his  official 
capacity  as  Governor  of  Aimilia  and  Liguria  in  maintaining  order 
between  the  Catholics  and  Arians  then  assembled  in  the  church  for 
the  election  of  a bishop.  He  was  then  only  a catechumen,  but  was 
forced  to  accept  the  office  ; he  received  baptism  on  the  30th  of 
November  374,  and  was  consecrated  bishop  on  the  7th  of  December 
following.  He  sold  his  patrimony, and  on  assuming  episcopal  charge 
distributed  the  proceeds  among  the  poor.  There  were  two  important 
incidents  in  his  life.  The  first  was  the  conversion  and  baptism 
of  Augustine  in  387,  who  was  destined  to  become  the  great  light  of 
the  Western  Church,  and  whose  conversion  was  largely  due  to  the 
prayers  of  his  mother,  St.  Monica.  The  other  incident  occurred  in  390, 
when  St.  Ambrose  forbade  the  great  Theodosius  to  enter  the  church, 
and  made  him  humbly  do  public  penance  for  the  massacre  of  the 
people  of  Thessalonica,  which  had  been  ordered  by  him  in  revenge 
for  the  murder  of  some  imperial  officers  by  the  populace,  during  a 
tumult.  St.  Ambrose  died  on  the  4th  April  397  (Bardenhewer,  ut 
supr.y  ii.  pp.  317  fif.). 


44  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

delay,  according  to  the  saying  of  our  Lord  Jesus  : Going 
therefore , teach  ye  all  nations  (Matt,  xxviii.  19).  Even 
those  kingdoms  which  were  shut  out  by  rugged  moun- 
tains became  accessible  to  them,  as  India  to  Thomas, 
Persia  to  Matthew.  This  also  (viz.,  the  internal  peace) 
expanded  the  power  of  the  empire  of  Rome  over  the 
whole  world,  and  appeased  dissensions  and  divisions 
among  the  peoples  by  securing  peace,  thus  enabling  the 
Apostles,  at  the  beginning  of  the  church,  to  travel  over 
many  regions  of  the  earth.' 

St.  Jerome1  (Epist.  lix.  ad  Marcellam , alias  cxlviii. 
Migne,  P.-L.,  vol.  xxii.,  1st  of  Jerome’s,  cols.  588-589): 
‘ The  last  sheet  contained  the  following  question,  Did 
our  Lord  after  his  resurrection  abide  with  his  disciples 
for  forty  days  and  never  go  elsewhere  ? or  did  he 
secretly  go  to  heaven  and  thence  descend,  at  no  time 
denying  his  presence  to  the  Apostles  ? 

‘ If  you  consider  our  Lord  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
of  whom  it  is  said,  “ Do  I not  fill  the  heavens  and  the 

1 Jerome  was  born  at  Stridon,  a small  village  on  the  frontier 
between  Dalmatia  and  Pannonia,  either  in  331,  or,  more  probably,  in 
340  ; he  went  to  Rome  at  the  age  of  twenty  to  commence  his  literary 
studies  ; he  received  late  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Pope  Liberius. 
From  Rome  he  went  to  Treves,  then  renowned  for  its  school  of 
theology ; later  he  was  at  Aquileia,  whence  he  went  to  the  East, 
and  arrived  at  Antioch  in  373.  On  the  death  of  an  intimate 
friend  he  retired  into  solitude.  During  this  period  he  studied 
the  Hebrew  language.  He  was  ordained  priest  at  Antioch 
c.  378.  Called  to  Constantinople  by  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus, 
he  went  there  before  the  close  of  379.  ‘ Ecclesiastica  necessitas,’ 

as  he  terms  it,  made  him  give  up  his  exegetical  studies,  and  he 
went  to  Rome,  where  he  attended  the  council  held  on  account  of 
the  schism  of  Antioch,  and  acted  as  the  Pope’s  secretary.  It  was 
during  this  stay  at  Rome  that  he  commenced  the  revision  of  the  old 
Latin  text  of  the  Scriptures,  and  this  formed  the  turning-point  of  his 
life.  On  the  death  of  Pope  Damasus  he  decided  to  quit  Rome,  which 
he  left  in  August  385  for  Antioch  ; thence  in  company  with  the  noble 
Roman  ladies,  Paula  and  Eustochium,  he  went  to  Palestine,  and  settled 
down  the  next  year  at  Bethlehem,  where  he  wrote  most  of  his  works 
and  letters,  till  his  death  in  420  (Bardenhewer,  ut  sufir.,  ii.  pp.  364-394). 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  45 

earth,  saith  the  Lord”?  . . . You  certainly  need,  not 
doubt  that  even  before  the  resurrection  the  true  God- 
head so  dwelt  in  the  Lord’s  body,  as  to  be  in  the  Father, 
as  to  embrace  the  expanse  of  the  heavens,  and  to  per- 
vade and  circumscribe  all  things,  that  is,  so  as  to  be 
within  all  things,  and,  without,  to  contain  all  things.  It 
is  foolish  to  limit  to  one  small  body  the  power  of  him 
whom  the  heavens  cannot  contain  ; and  yet  he  who  was 
everywhere,  was  also  all  entire  in  the  Son  of  Man.  For 
the  Divine  nature  and  the  Word  of  God  cannot  be  par- 
celled out,  or  divided  by  place,  but,  while  everywhere, 
is  all  entire  everywhere.  He  was  indeed  at  one  and  the 
same  time  with  the  apostles  during  the  forty  days,  and 
with  the  angels,  and  in  the  Father,  and  in  the  uttermost 
ends  of  the  ocean.  He  dwelt  in  all  places  : with  Thomas 
in  India,  with  Peter  at  Rome,  with  Paul  in  Illyricum,  with 
Titus  in  Crete,  with  Andrew  in  Achaia,  with  each  apos- 
tolic man  in  each  and  all  countries.' 

St.  Gaudentius,  bishop  of  Brescia  (died  between 
410-427).  Extract  from  Sermon  xvii.,  Migne,  P.-L., 
vol.  xx.  cols.  962-63.  This  sermon  was  delivered  on 
the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  a church  named 
‘ Basilica  Concilii  Sanctorum  ’ — Assembly  of  the 
Saints,  at  Brescia  in  402.  For  this  church  the  relics  of 
Saints  Thomas,  John  the  Baptist,  Andrew  and  Luke  had 
been  secured — hence  the  title.  ‘ We  possess  here  the 
relics  of  these  four  who  having  preached  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness  were  put  to  death  by  un- 
believing and  perverse  men,  and  now  live  for  ever  in 
God,  as  the  power  of  their  works  discloses.  John  at 
Sebastena,  a town  of  the  province  of  Palestine,  Thomas 
among  the  Indians,  Andrew  and  Luke  at  the  city  of 
Patras  are  found  to  have  closed  their  careers  (consum- 
mati  sunt).'  1 

1 A friend  once  wrote  to  us  : 1 All  I know  at  present  is  that  St. 
Paulinus  had  relics  of  St.  Thomas  at  Nola,  and  St.  Gaudentius  at 


(Jj - f l/l  ' <7t  ^ 

46  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

St.  Paulinus  of  Nola1  (Migne,  P-L.}  vol.  Ixi.  col. 
514):  ‘So  God,  bestowing  his  holy  gifts  on  all  lands, 
sent  his  Apostles  to  the  great  cities  of  the  world.  To 
the  Patrians  he  sent  Andrew,  to  John  the  charge  at 
Ephesus  he  gave  of  Europe  and  Asia,  their  errors  to 
repel  with  effulgence  of  light.  Parthia  receives  Matthew, 
India  Thomas,  Libya  Thaddaeus  and  Phrygia  Philip.’ 

St.  John  Chrysostom.2  This  Doctor  of  the  Greek 

Brescia,  but  I could  not  find  anything  to  show  how  they  obtained 
these  relics,  which  they  placed  in  their  respective  churches.’  No 
doubt  many  another  among  the  readers  of  these  pages  would  feel  in- 
clined to  ask  the  same  question.  An  excellent  little  essay  was  written 
for  academical  honours  by  Mathias  H.  Hohlenberg  of  Copenhagen, 
entitled,  De  originibus  et  fatis  Ecclesiae  Christianae  in  India  Orientali, 
disquisitio  historica  ad  finem  saeculi  decimi  quinti  perducta,  Havniae, 
1822.  The  title  is  rather  high-sounding,  but  his  effort  to  establish 
that  the  first  evangelisation  of  India  was  by  the  Apostle  Thomas,  is 
not  only  commendable,  but  on  the  whole  is  the  best  thing  yet  pub- 
lished on  the  subject,  and  we  have  found  it  often  suggestive.  The 
writer  (p.  82),  referring  to  Bolland.  Acta  SS .,  die  18  Febr.  et  22  Jan., 
adds  that,  besides  at  Nola  and  Brescia,  the  relics  of  Thomas  were 
also  deposed  in  the  ‘basilica  Apostolorum’  at  Milan.  There  are 
thus  three  places,  all  in  upper  Italy,  where  relics  of  this  Apostle 
appear  at  about  the  same  time.  The  mention  of  the  relics  of  Thomas 
at  Milan  will  be  found  also  in  the  Martyrologium  Hierony7nianum 
[details  of  this  important  Martyrology  will  be  given  presently]  (p.  lxxiv. 
and  p.  57,  first  col.,  bottom) : vii.  id.  Mai , Mediolano , de  ingressu 
reliquiarum  Apostolorum  Johannis  Andreae  et  Thotnae  in  basilica  ad 
portam  Romanam.  If  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  year  394,  as  men- 
tioned above,  the  relics  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  were,  at  Edessa, 
removed  from  the  old  church  to  the  new  magnificent  basilica  erected 
in  his  honour,  it  will  be  noticed  that  an  opportunity  would  then  offer 
itself  to  extract  from  the  urn  or  sarcophagus  that  held  them  some 
portion  of  the  relics,  and  morsels  or  fragments  from  these  could  be 
obtained  by  pious  pilgrims  and  conveyed  to  Italy,  where  precisely 
they  are  found  in  the  cities  of  Nola,  Brescia,  and  Milan,  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  bishops,  Paulinus,  Gaudentius,  and  Ambrose,  after  395. 

1 Paulinus  was  born  at  Bordeaux  in  353  ; his  devotion  to  St. 
Felix  of  Nola  led  him  to  that  city,  to  which  he  was  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  who  was  now  a sister  to  him;  he  was  made  bishop  of  Nola 
in  409,  and  died  in  431  (Bardenhewer,  ut  supr.,  ii.  pp.  344  fF.). 

2 John,  the  son  of  a general  of  the  Eastern  empire,  born  at 
Antioch  in  344  (or  perhaps  as  late  as  347),  was  surnamed  ‘ Chry- 


f-  fl?  • r ( H • o s^r>>2v  ^ 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  47 

Church  does  not  expressly  state  that  Thomas  the  Apostle 
preached  the  faith  to  the  Indians,  but  as  he  says  they 
were  evangelised  by  an  Apostle  and  with  the  gift  of 
tongues,  we  can  see  that  some  one  apostle  was  present 
in  his  mind.  We  may  almost  legitimately  infer  that  that 
apostle  was  Thomas,  for  such  was  the  evidence  of  the 
saint’s  contemporaries,  as  we  have  shown  above.  The 
well-known  fact  that  the  Relics  [the  Bones]  of  the 
Apostle  were  then  at  Edessa,  a fact  which  Chrysostom 
himself  attests  elsewhere  (. Homily  26  on  tJifEpistle  to  the 
Hebrews , Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  vol.  63,  col.  179),  and  the 
general  knowledge  of  the  Apostle  diffused  from  that  city, 
make  the  inference  most  probable  (see  also  his  testimony 
quoted  in  Chapter  IV.).  We  should  remember  also  that 
the  saint  was  a younger  contemporary  of  Ephraem. 

In  the  first  of  the  three  passages  St.  John  Chrysostom 
asserts  that  in  the  Apostolic  age  the  Indians,  in  common 
with  the  Scythians  and  others,  accepted  the  mild  yoke 
of  the  Gospel  teaching.  In  the  second  passage  he 
speaks  of  the  gift  of  tongues  conferred  on  the  Apostles, 
and  mentions  the  Apostle  of  India  as  one  endowed 
with  the  gift.  In  the  third  passage  he  mentions  that 
the  apostles  erected  altars  everywhere,  and  among  the 
Scythians,  Persians,  and  Indians.  The  three  passages 
will  be  found  below.1 

sostom  ’ or  ‘ Golden-mouthed,’  because  of  his  great  eloquence.  As 
deacon  and  as  priest  he  occupied  the  pulpit  at  Antioch  from  387  to 
397,  during  which  time  his  most  famous  homilies  were  preached. 
He  was  chosen  for  the  Patriarchal  see  by  the  people  of  Constantinople, 
and  consecrated  by  Theophilus  of  Alexandria  in  398.  After  a few 
years  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  Eudoxia,  and  was  exiled  by  the 
feeble  Arcadius,  but  again  soon  recalled  by  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
owing  to  a tumult  among  the  people.  Exiled  a second  time  in  404, 
through  intrigues  of  Theophilus  and  others,  he  died  14th  September 
407  (Bardenhewer,  ut  supr.,  ii.  pp.  164  ff.). 

1 The  following  are  the  passages  from  his  works  as  they  appear 
in  a Latin  version  (S.  Joan.  Chrysost.,  Opera  omnia,  edit.  Montfaucon, 
Parisiis,  1735,  tom.  i.,  Quod  Christus  sit  Deus,  § 6,  p.  566) : — 

I.  Tunc pascentur  simul  lupus  cum  agno.  On  this  he  writes  : De 


48  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


St.  Gregory  of  Tours  bears  strong  and  clear  testi- 
mony to  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom  and  burial  in  India, 
as  will  be  seen  in  the  quotation  given  in  our  next 
chapter. 

St.  Bede  the  Venerable  [born  c.  673,  died  735],  Opera 
omnia , Coloniae  Agrippinae,  1688,  tom.  iii.,  Excerptiones 
Patrum,  Collectanea,  &c.,  col.  485  : ‘The  Apostles  of 
Christ,  who  were  to  be  the  preachers  of  the  faith  and 
teachers  of  the  nations,  received  their  allotted  charges 
in  distinct  parts  of  the  world.  Peter  receives  Rome  ; 
Andrew,  Achaia ; James,  Spain;  Thomas,  India;  John, 
Asia;  Matthew,'  &c.  Further  evidence  from  his  Mar- 
tyrology  will  be  found  below. 

IV. — The  Witness  of  the  Ancient  Calendars, 
Sacramentaries,  and  Martyrologies  of  the 
Latin  Church 

Each  Church  from  ancient  times  had  its  own  list  of 
feasts,  ferialia)  containing  ‘ dies  natalis  martyrum/  the 
anniversaries  of  the  martyrs  of  that  particular  church  ; 
and  ‘depositio  episcoporum,’  the  anniversaries  of  the 
demise  of  its  bishops  ; besides  special  feasts.  Two 

feris  hominibus  id  dictum  est,  de  Scytis,  Thracibus,  Mauris,  Indis, 
Sauromatis,  Persis.  Quod  autem  omnes  illae  gentes  sub  uno  jugo 
futurae  essent,  alius  propheta  declaravit  his  verbis  : Et  servient  ei 
sub  jugo  uno , &c. 

II.  (p.  567)  : Et  quomodo  illos  omnes,  dicit  quispiam,  attraxerunt 
Apostoli?  Qui  nonnisi  unam  linguam  habebant,  nempe  Judaicam, 
quomodo  Scytam,  Indam  et  Sauromatam  docere  potuit?  Accepto 
nempe  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  linguarum  multarum  dono. 

III.  (pp.  574-575).  Speaking  of  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  he 
says  : Ubique  altaria  excitarent,  in  regione  Romanorum,  Persarum, 
Scytharum,  Maurorum,  Indorum  ; quid  dico  ? vel  extra  orbern  nostrum. 

IV.  (Tom.  xii.,  Commentar.  in  Epist.  ad  Hebr.,  homilia  xxvi., 
§ 2,  p.  237) : Aaronis  autem,  Danielis,  Jeremiae,  et  Apostolorum 
multorum,  nescimus  ubi  sita  [ossa]  sint.  Nam  Petri  quidem  et  Pauli 
et  Johannis  et  Thomae  manifesta  sunt  sepulcra.  Aliorum  autem  cum 
sint  tarn  multi,  nusquam  sunt  nota. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  49 

separate  lists  were  kept,  one  for  the  ‘ depositiones ' and 
the  other  for  the  ‘dies  natales  ’ and  festivals.  The 
Roman  church  had  thus  a similar  feriale , which  in  the 
past  has  been  called  by  different  names.  The  Roman 
feriale,  containing  the  two  lists  under  the  headings 
‘ depositiones  episcoporum  ’ and  ‘ depositiones  marty- 
rum,’  was  first  discovered  and  published  by  the  Jesuit, 
Bucher  (De  Doctrina  Temporum,  c.  cxv.  pp.  266  ff. 
Antwerp,  1634),  and  thus  came  to  be  called  the  Kalen- 
darium  Bucherianum : it  was  reproduced  by  Ruinart  in 
Acta  Sincera  Martyrum.  It  was  subsequently  found 
that  this  Calendar  formed  only  a part  of  a larger  com- 
pilation bearing  the  name  of  Furius  Dionysius  Philo- 
calus,  and  comprising  a variety  of  elements,  such  as 
an  Almanac  might  contain,  and  had  been  prepared  for 
one  Valentinus. 

The  latest  development  of  the  discoveries  of  this  im- 
portant document  is  given  by  the  late  Professor  Theodore 
Mommsen  in  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  tom.  ix., 
ed.  in  4°,  Berolini,  1891,  which  contains  his  second  edi- 
tion of  this  ancient  Roman  Calendar.  Mommsen  shows 
that  Philocalus  was  not  the  author,  but  being  a cele- 
brated caligraphist  of  the  age  he  transcribed  the  com- 
pilation, and  appended  his  name  to  it.  Quoting  De 
Rossi,  Mommsen  shows  that  Philocalus  inscribed  him- 
self the  ‘cultor’  and  ‘amator’  of  Pope  Damasus  : 
Damasi  s\ui\pappx  cidtor  atque  amato\r ] Furius  Dionysius 
Filocalus  scribsit-  Under  these  circumstances  Mommsen 
thought  it  best  to  style  the  compilation — Chronographus 
anni  CCCLIJII. 

This  Calendar,  or  rather  Almanac,  is  partly  civil  and 
partly  ecclesiastical,  and  a long  chronology  is  attached 
to  it,  which  has  no  doubt  undergone  very  considerable 
enlargement  since  its  first  appearance.  The  civil  part 
comprises  eight  sections  : — dedication  to  Valentinus  ; 
pictures  representing  principal  cities,  Rome,  Alexandria, 

D 


50  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

Constantinople,  &c.  ; an  imperial  dedication,  the  birth 
days  of  the  Caesars — in  his  d{pmini)  n(ostri)  Constantii ; 
figures  of  the  seven  planets,  &c.  ; the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac;  representations  of  the  months,  &c. ; pictures 
of  the  two  emperors  of  the  day,  one  seated  and  crowned, 
the  other  standing  uncrowned  ; the  complete  fasti  con- 
sulares  A.  U.  C.  245  to  753  ; and  post  Christum  from  annus 
1 to  354.  Then  commences  the  ecclesiastical  part  con- 
taining : (ix)  the  Paschal  cycle  from  p.  Chr.  312  to  358, 
and  with  some  omissions  continued  to  410 ; (x)  a list  is 
here  intercalated  of  the  Prefects  of  the  city  ; (xi)  the 
‘ depositiones  ’ or  burials  of  the  bishops  of  Rome,  the 
last  mentioned  being  Julius  who  died  A.D.  352  ; (xii)  the 
feriale  of  the  Roman  Church  ‘ depositiones  marty- 
rum’;  (xiii)  a list  of  the  bishops  of  Rome  ending  with 
Liberius  elected  in  352  ; (xiv)  the  divisions  or  regiones 
of  the  city  of  Rome  ; and  lastly  (xv),  the  chronology  or 
Liber  generationis,  &c.  Of  section  (xiii)  Mommsen  gives 
a critical  text  from  existing  MSS,  and  supplements 
defects  or  omissions  from  a reconstructed  text  prepared 
by  Mgr.  Duchesne  in  his  Liber  Pontificalis. 

This  compilation  was  first  prepared  in  336,  and  was 
made  public  with  later  additions  in  the  year  354. 
Mgr.  Duchesne  (Bolland.  Acta  SS.,  November,  vol.  ii., 
‘ Martyrologium  Hieronymianum,  ediderunt  Joh.  Bapt. 
de  Rossi  et  Ludov.  Duchesne,'  pp.  xlviii.-xlix)  observes 
that  the  list  ‘depositiones  episcoporum  ' contains  the 
names  of  only  some  of  the  Popes ; and  the  ‘ de- 
positiones' or  ‘dies  natales  martyrum  ’ also  contains 
only  some  of  the  Roman  martyrs,  while  others  are 
omitted.  He  concludes  that  what  has  been  given  in 
this  compilation  is  only  an  excerpt  of  the  Roman  feriale 
now  lost.1 

1 For  full  particulars  regarding  this  ancient  document  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  following  authors  who  have  ably  and  fully  discussed 
it  in  recent  years  : De  Rossi,  Roma  Sott.,  tom-  i.  p.  iii ; tom.  ii.  p. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  51 

A similar  calendar  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Carth- 
age was  discovered  and  published  by  Mabillon.  It 
was  also  incorporated  by  Ruinart  in  his  Acta  above 
mentioned.  It  opens  with  the  following  heading  : Hie 
continentur  dies  natalitiorum  Martyrum  et  depositiones 
episcoporum  quos  ecclesiae  Cartaginis  anniversaria 
celebrant.1  This  Carthaginian  calendar  is  rather 
provincial  than  diocesan,  and  belongs  to  the  beginning 
of  the  sixth  century,  and  is  not  much  later  than  a.d.  502. 

Next  in  antiquity  to  the  Philocalian  is  another  Roman 
calendar  found  attached  to  the  Leonine  Sacramentary 
Codex  of  Verona,  the  date  of  which  is  c.  488.  The 
third  calendar  in  order  of  date  is  the  Gelasian  c.  495, 
so  called  after  Pope  Gelasius  and  found  attached  to  his 
Sacramentary.  The  fourth  is  the  Gregorian  attached  to 
the  Sacramentary  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  c.  591. 2 
The  Sacramentarium  formed  the  Missale  of  the  ancient 
church,  and  the  calendar  was  attached  to  it,  as  now  to 
our  modern  Roman  Missal.  The  same  practice  pre- 

vi ; Mgr.  Duchesne  in  his  edition  of  Liber  Pontificalis , tom.  i.  pp.  vi. 
and  10;  and  Mommsen,  Monumenta  Germaniae : Scriptores  Anii- 
quissimi , tom.  ix.  p.  13,  Berolini,  in  4to,  1891;  articles  ‘Calendar’ 
and  ‘ Martyrology  ’ in  the  Diet,  of  Christ.  Atitiquit.  Philocalus’ 
Calendar  will  also  be  found  in  Bolland.  Acta  SS.,  June,  vol.  vii. 
pp.  178-184  ; and  Migne,  P.-L.,  vol.  xiii.,  col.  675,  where  it  is 
printed  side  by  side  with  the  Calendar  of  Polemeus  Silvanus,  dated 
448,  but  these  two  publications  contain  only  the  civil  portion  of  the 
Calendar,  and  not  what  is  termed  the  Roman  feriale. 

1 The  ancient  custom  in  this  matter  is  stated  by  St.  Cyprian  of 
Carthage  ( Epist . xxxvi.),  when  he  asks  the  clergy  to  make  known  to 
him  the  day  on  which  each  confessor  suffered  : Dies  eorum  quibus 
excidunt  nuntiate  ut  commemorationes  eorum  inter  memorias  marty- 
rum celebrare  possimus.  Quamquam  Tertullus  . . . scripsit  et  scribat 
et  significet  mihi  dies  quibus  in  carcere  beati  fratres  nostri  ad 
immortalitatem  gloriosae  mortis  exitu  transeunt,  et  celebrentur  hie 
a nobis  oblationes  et  sacrificia  ob  commemorationes  eorum. 

2 For  the  three  Sacramentaria  of  the  Roman  Church  see 
Muratori,  Liturgia  Romana  Vetus,  in  3 vols.,  published  with  his 
Opere , Arezzo,  1771  ; or  separate  in  one  vol. 


52  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

vails  in  the  Syrian  Church  as  may  be  seen  from  its 
printed  Missals.  Intermediate  between  the  Gelasian 
and  Gregorian  calendars  comes  the  Martyrologium 
Hieronymianuni , of  which  more  later. 

The  earliest  calendar,  the  Philocalian  or  ' Chrono- 
graphus  anni  CCCLIIII.,’  contains  the  names  of  only  two 
Apostles,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  III.  Kal.  Jul.  Petri  in 
Catacumbas  et  Pauli  Ostiense,  with  the  commemoration  de 
Cathedra  Petri  assigned  to  the  22nd  of  February  ; the 
feast  of  the  Nativity  is  given  on  the  25th  December.  It 
contains  a scanty  list  of  Roman  martyrs,  and  also  the 
names  of  Cyprian  and  of  one  or  two  non-Roman 
martyrs. 

The  MS  of  the  Leonine  calendar  is  defective, 
and  the  leaves  containing  three  and  a half  months  are 
missing;  the  manuscript  now  begins  with  XVIII.  Kal. 
Maias , the  14th  April.  The  feast  of  our  Saint  George 
is  found  in  this  calendar  on  IX.  Kal.  Maias , the  23rd  of 
April.  The  existence  at  Rome,  in  Velabro,  of  an  ancient 
basilica  dedicated  to  the  saint  accounts  for  the  inclusion 
of  his  name  in  this  ancient  calendar,  and  attests  the 
early  diffusion  of  his  festival.  Of  the  Apostles,  besides 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  we  have  Saint  Andrew,  Peter’s 
brother,  Prid.  Kal.  Dec.,  30th.  of  November,  and  Saint 
John,  VI.  Kal.  Jan.,  27th  of  December : the  Holy 
Innocents  are  also  commemorated  and  two  dedica- 
tions of  basilicas,  Angeli  in  Salarium,  and  another 
which,  though  marked  Natale  sancti  Stephani  in  Coemeterio 
Callisti  Via  Appia,  is  not  the  feast  of  the  saint  himself, 
but  of  the  dedication  of  his  basilica,  as  Muratori 
{Litur.  Rom.  Vetus,  ut  supr.,  vol.  I.,  col.  70)  points  out. 
The  missing  portion  of  this  calendar  would  probably 
not  have  contained  the  names  of  any  of  the  other 
Apostles,  as  none  of  their  festivals  fall  between  January 
and  the  middle  of  April. 

The  Gelasian  calendar  has  kalendis  Maii — 1st  May, 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  53 

Philippi  et  Jacobi  Apostolorum,1  Natale  Apostolorum 
Petri  et  Pauli , and  Saint  Andrew  on  the  usual  days,  and 
XII.  Kal.  Jan.  Sancti  Thomae  Apostoli,  on  the  21st 
December  ; it  gives  also  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

The  Gregorian  calendar,  as  might  be  expected,  con- 
tains more  names  than  any  of  its  predecessors.  It 
gives  the  following  feasts  of  the  Apostles  : St.  Philip  and 
St.  James,  St.  John  ad  Portani  Latinam,  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  jointly,  as  also  a separate  feast  of  St.  Paul  on  the 
day  following,  St.  Andrew  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 

These  Sacramentaries,  even  the  earlier  Leonine, 
generally  give  more  than  one  mass  for  each  of  the 
above  mentioned  Apostles.  For  the  festival  of  St. 
Thomas  the  Gelasian  has  a special  mass  [ut  supr.  lib.  II., 
§ LXXI.),  In  Natali  Sancti  Thomae  Apostoli ; it  gives 
three  proper  prayers  for  the  same.  The  first  of  these 
is  the  prayer  now  named  ‘Collect,’  which  in  the 
ancient  Sacramentaries  bore  no  name  ; the  second  is 
marked  in  the  text  ' Secreta  ’ ; and  the  third  1 Post 
Commun.’  or  post-communion.  The  primitive  first 
prayer  or  collect  of  this  mass  remains  unchanged  in 
the  Roman  Missal  to  this  day,  but  in  the  Secret  a few 
verbal  changes  have  been  introduced,  and  a new  post- 
communion has  replaced  that  of  the  Gelasian.  There  is 
no  proper  preface  to  this  Gelasian  mass,  though  several 

1 With  reference  to  a similar  double  entry  of  the  two  Apostles 
occurring  in  the  Martyr.  Hieron .,  Duchesne  makes  the  following 
remarks  (p.  Ixxvii) : jacobus  qui  hie  cum  Philippo  jungitur  . . . neque 
aliquo  vinculo  cum  Philippo  conjunctus  est,  ut  pronum  fuerit  ambos 
simul  uno  festo  celebrari.  Sed  Jacobi  pariterque  Philippi  basilicam 
Romae  aedificaverunt  pontifices  Pelagius  I.  et  Johannes  III.  circa 
annum  561  ; hie  fuit  initium  festi  communis,  ea  causa  Jacobi  post 
Philippum  in  Kalendaria  inserendi.  Quod  quidem  in  hieronomyano 
factum  est,  sed  non  ubique ; nam  neque  in  Indice  Apostolorum  Philippo 
Jacobus  sociatur  neque,  See.  For  the  principal  statement  he  gives 
a reference  in  a note  to  his  Lib.  PontiJ. tom.  i.  p.  306,  No.  2.  The 
inference  to  be  drawn  is  that  the  insertion  of  the  double  feast  is 
posterior  to  the  issue  of  this  Calendar. 


54  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

of  the  other  masses  have,  in  addition  to  the  three 
prayers,  also  their  special  preface.  These  ancient 
prefaces,  like  those  still  retained  in  the  Roman  Missal, 
always  contain  some  special  reference  to  the  mystery, 
or  the  saint  commemorated. 

Though  the  existing  text  of  the  Gregorian  Sacra- 
mentary does  not  mark  the  feast  of  Saint  Thomas  in 
the  calendar,  or  contain  a mass  for  the  same,  there 
is  proof  available  that  it  formerly  did  contain  a mass 
for  the  feast.  In  the  collection  of  prefaces  at  col.  1044 
(apud  Muratori  ut  supr.),  under  the  heading  Undecimo 
Kalendas  Januarii , Natale  SANCTI  Thomae  Apostoli, 
a preface  is  given  : ‘ Vere  dignum  et  justum  est,’  &c. 
The  editor  remarks  in  a footnote  that  the  above  preface 
in  the  Vatican  Codex  is  assigned  in  unius  Apostoli  ad 
missam.  The  date  given  above  for  the  feast  would 
place  it  on  the  20th  December  ; this  must  be  due  to 
an  error  of  the  copyist : the  reader  will  observe  that 
the  date  is  written  in  words,  not  in  Roman  numerals, 
as  in  the  previous  quotations ; probably  the  last 
character  of  the  Roman  numeral  XII.  was  effaced  by  age, 
or  inadvertently  overlooked  by  the  copyist  who  wrote 
‘ undecimo  Kalendas ' instead  of  ‘ duodecimo  Kalen- 
das.' The  calendars  show  no  variation  of  this  date, 
and  it  may  be  taken  for  certain  that  21st  December  was 
the  accepted  date  of  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom.  In  the 
old  ‘ Secret  ’ of  the  mass  in  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary 
occur  the  words,  ‘Cujus  honoranda  confessione  laudis 
tibi  hostias  immolamus,'  &c.  These  words,  retained 
also  in  the  present  Roman  Missal,  imply  that  the 
Apostle  suffered  martyrdom,  and  so  do  the  words  of 
the  heading,  In  Natali  Sancti  Thomae.  In  the 
Martyrologies  the  words  in  Natali  or  Natalis  are  only 
used  for  martyrs. 

The  Hieronymian  Martyrology  is  anterior  to  the 
Gregorian  Sacramentary,  and  though  never  used  for 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  55 

Liturgical  or  ecclesiastical  services,  is  a document  of 
very  considerable  authority.  Compiled  largely  from 
ancient  authentic  documents  existing  in  the  fourth 
century,  the  primitive  body  of  the  compilation  com- 
prised three  principal  elements,  viz. : A Roman  calendar 
fuller  than  that  which  has  come  down  to  us  through 
Philocalus ; the  eastern  Greek  calendar,  probably  of 
Antioch,  comprising  also  that  of  the  Church  of 
Nicomedia;  and  nearly  the  entire  African  provincial 
calendar.  The  Greek  portion  incorporated  appears  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  same  source  from  which 
the  translation  in  Syriac  was  done,  which  has  come 
down  to  us  bearing  the  date  723  of  the  Seleucan 
era  (a.d.  411-412),  and  which  is  the  oldest  Syriac 
dated  MS  extant.  This  calendar,  though  styled  by 
Dr.  Wright,  who  discovered  it  in  the  British  Museum, 
‘an  ancient  Syrian  Martyrology,'  is,  in  its  principal 
part — from  26  Kanan  (December),  to  24  Teshri,  Novem- 
ber (pp.  423-431),  a translation  of  a Greek  calendar, 
closing,  according  to  Wright’s  translation,  with  the 
words  : ‘here  end  the  Confessors  of  the  West.'  What 
follows  bears  the  heading  : ‘ the  names  of  our  Lords, 
the  Confessors  who  were  slain  in  the  East  ’ ; this  second 
portion,  covering  pp.  431-432,  consists  of  one  and  a 
half  pages  of  octavo  in  print  (see  Journal  of  Sacred 
Literature , London,  January,  1866,  pp.  423-432,  where 
the  translation  first  appeared).  The  Martyrologium 
Hieronymianmn  (ut  supr.)  gives  of  the  first  above  part 
the  Syriac  text,  and  in  parallel  columns  offers  also 
translations  in  Greek  and  Latin,  pp.  li.-lxiii.,  and  so 
attempts  to  reproduce  for  the  benefit  of  students  the 
primitive  text  now  lost.  Of  the  second  part  it  gives  the 
Syriac  and  a translation  only  in  Greek,  pp.  lxiii.-lxv.  This 
Hieronymian  Martyrology,  as  Mgr.  Duchesne  shows, 
incorporated  also  a considerable  number  of  local  feasts 
of  the  churches  of  northern  Italy,  which  makes  him 


56  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


suspect  that  the  work  was  compiled  in  that  locality.  It 
first  went  under  various  names — of  Eusebius  of  Caesarea, 
of  Jerome,  and  of  Chromatius  and  Heliodorus;  but 
is  now  generally  known  as  the  1 Martyrologium 
Hieronymianum.’ 

The  existence  of  such  a compilation  was  known  to 
St.  Gregory  the  Great.  We  have  a letter  (Ep.  viii.  28, 
/.  1517)  written  by  him  (between  590-604)  in  reply  to 
Eulogus,  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  had  asked  him 
‘ to  send  a collection  of  the  acts  of  all  the  martyrs  which 
had  been  compiled  by  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.’  The 
Pope  replies  that  he  does  not  know  of  such  a work, 
and  has  searched  in  vain  at  Rome  for  such  a collection  ; 
but  he  adds,  ‘ We  have  the  names  of  nearly  all  the 
martyrs  marked  with  their  separate  passion  (martyrdom) 
for  each  day,  gathered  in  one  volume,  and  we  daily 
offer  the  Mass  in  their  honour.  But  this  volume  does 
not  specify  what  each  suffered,  but  gives  only  the  name, 
place,  and  day  of  passion.  Whence  it  comes  that  many 
{multi)  from  diverse  lands  and  provinces  are  known  to 
have  been  crowned  on  each  day,  as  I have  said.  But 
this  we  believe  your  blessedness  possesses.' 

Prior  to  this,  Cassiodorus  (between  540-570)  {De 
Institutione  divinarum  litter  arum,  c.  32)  exhorted  his 
monks  to  ‘ read  regularly  the  passions  of  the  martyrs, 
who  flourished  all  over  the  world,  which  you  no  doubt 
will  find  — inter  alia  — in  the  letter  of  St.  Jerome  to 
Chromatius  and  Heliodorus,  that  moved  by  their  holy 
example  you  may  be  led  to  things  heavenly.’  The 
letter  here  mentioned  is  that  which  prefaces  this 
Martyrology,  and  is  in  reply  to  one  by  the  bishops 
Chromatius  and  Heliodorus  to  Jerome.  These  two 
letters,  which  are  acknowledged  to  be  fictitious,  it  would 
seem  were  known  to  the  writer  as  prefacing  some  codex 
containing  the  acts  of  martyrs  which  he  recommends 
the  monks  to  read ; and  this  may  have  led  him  to 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  57 

suppose  that  other  codices  similarly  contained  the 
letters  and  the  acts.  But  the  ordinary  codices  of  the 
martyrology  which  are  prefaced  with  these  letters  con- 
tain no  acts  of  martyrs,  but  answer  the  description  given 
by  Pope  St.  Gregory,  that  is  to  say,  they  give  the  name 
of  each  martyr  and  the  place  and  date  of  martyrdom. 
It  follows  that  this  Martyrologium  was  in  existence  in 
Italy  by  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century.  Mgr. 
Duchesne  shows  ( ut  supr.  p.  xliii.)  that  it  was  in  France 
towards  the  close  of  the  same  century ; and  he  further 
infers  (p.  lxxiv.)  from  a close  analysis  of  the  saints  of  the 
churches  of  northern  Italy  found  in  the  text,  that 
4 nulla  ratio  est  distinguendi  inter  collectorem  ilium  (re- 
ferred to  by  Cassiodorus)  et  martyrologium,  quern  ipsa 
Chromatii  et  Heliodori  cura  Italiae  superiori  adnectit.’ 

The  existing  MSS  do  not  present  the  primitive  form 
of  this  Martyrology.  De  Rossi  concludes,  from  a com- 
parison with  the  texts  of  other  martyrologies  dependent 
on  this,  that  the  older  recension  had  entries  of  superior 
value  to  those  now  found.  In  its  present  form  the 
martyrology  contains  a great  many  erroneous  entries, 
resulting  from  the  incorporation  of  marginal  notes  on 
older  codices  ; these  have  become  duplicated  by  inser- 
tion in  wrong  places  and  at  different  dates  ; names  have 
been  misread ; others  have  been  split  up  and  new  entries 
have  thus  been  formed.  These  alterations  and  the  non- 
survival of  primitive  documents  make  it  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  reconstruct  the  Martyrology  in  its  primitive  form. 
De  Rossi  was  hopeful  of  doing  this  till  disabled  by 
paralysis,  and,  if  attempted,  he  has  left  no  trace  of  his 
work.  Even  his  share  in  preparing  the  introduc- 
tion for  the  publication  of  the  Hieronymian  text  of  the 
Martyrology,  was  but  partly  completed,  and  his  colla- 
borator, Mgr.  Duchesne,  had  to  finish  the  work.  The 
arduous  task  of  re-constructing  the  primitive  text  awaits 
the  enterprise  of  a competent  scholar. 


58  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

The  edition  referred  to  has  been  very  carefully  pre- 
pared. The  oldest  principal  texts  of  the  different 
recensions  are  given  in  three  parallel  columns,  with  the 
variants  of  a large  number  of  subsidiary  codices  de- 
pendent on  the  Hieronymian  Martyrology.  The  codex 
princeps  occupies  the  middle  column,  and  though 
now  at  Paris,  it  formerly  belonged  to  the  monastery 
founded  about  698  by  St.  Willibrord,  the  Apostle  of 
Friesland,  at  Epternac,  in  the  diocese  of  Treves,  and  is 
therefore  known  as  the  Epternacensis.  As  De  Rossi 
remarks,  it  was  ‘written  by  Englishmen  for  the  use  of 
Englishmen.’  The  Calendar  attached  to  this  MS  was 
written  for  St.  Willibrord  himself,  and  holds  an  entry 
in  his  own  handwriting  : this  Calendar  is  written  in  an 
Anglo-Saxon  hand,  and  is  not  later  than  702-706.  The 
Martyrology  to  which  it  is  now  attached  was  written  a 
little  later,  but  the  whole  manuscript  is  probably  well 
within  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighth  century.  Its  text 
is  remarkable  for  accuracy  of  entries  and  purity  of 
readings. 

The  column  to  the  left  is  occupied  by  an  excellent 
codex,  now  known  as  Bernensis ; it  formerly  belonged 
to  Metz,  and  was  written  at  the  latter  end  of  the  eighth 
century  ; the  last  quaternion  is  missing,  and  the  text  is 
incomplete  from  22  November  to  24  December.  The 
remaining  column  contains  what  is  now  known  as  the 
codex  Wissemburgensis : it  belongs  to  the  family  of 
codices  named  after  the  monastery  of  Corbie  in  the 
diocese  of  Amiens,  and  was  written  late  in  the  eighth 
century.  A fragment  is  also  given,  all  that  now  exists, 
of  the  codex  Laureshametisis  (of  the  convent  of  Laures- 
heim  or  Lorch,  diocese  of  Treves) ; De  Rossi  terms 
it  an  ‘ insigne  fragmentum.’  It  is  important  we  should 
take  note  that,  in  the  opinion  of  this  learned  Christian 
archaeologist,  it  is  ‘the  only  existing  sample  of  the  fuller 
Jeromian  text'  now  lost,  containing  also  some  historical 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  59 

details  taken  from  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs.  This 
fragment  was  lost  for  a time  in  the  Vatican  Library 
till  recovered  by  Mr.  Henry  Stevenson  (see  Martyrol. 
Hieron.,  ut  supr.,  pp.  x.-xi.,  § 3). 

We  now  proceed  to  show  what  the  Martyrologium 
Hieronymianum  contains  regarding  the  Apostle  Saint 
Thomas. 

In  the  complete  manuscripts,  on  a folio  preceding 
the  text  of  the  martyrology  proper,  there  is  a list  con- 
taining the  festivals  of  the  Apostles  only.  In  the 
Epternac  codex  this  list  is  headed:  'Notitia  de  locis 
Apostolorum,’  and  the  entry  regarding  Saint  Thomas 
is  as  follows: — 

xii.  kl.  ian.  Nat.  S.  Thome  apostoli  in  India  et  translatio 
corporis  ejus  in  Edessa  (V.  K.  Jul.  2am.)  [it  should  be 
v.n.,  July  3rd,  as  the  text  shows]. 

Note. — This  brief  entry  exactly  sums  up  all  that  has  to  be 
said  : the  Natalis  or  martyrdom  is  kept  xii.  kl.  ian.  (21st 
Deer.),  and  the  feast  translatio  corporis  ejus  in  Edessa , on 
July  3rd. 

In  the  body  of  the  Martyrology  (cod.  Epternac)  there 
are  two  entries  : — 

(I.)  v.  Non.  Jul.  Translatio  Thome  apostoli  in  Edessa  (a). 

(II.)  xii.  Kal.  Jan.  Passio  Thomae  apostoli  in  India  (h). 

The  above  are  the  readings  given  in  situ , but  the 
editors  in  a summary  of  the  Apostle’s  festivals  (p.  lxxvii.) 
add  the  following  explanatory  notes  : — 

(a)  Ita  E.  [Epternac],  cett.  [caeteri] : In  Edissa  Mesopotamiae, 
transl.  corporis  S.  Th.  ap.  qui.  passus  est  in  India. 

(h)  Ita  E. ; N.  [for  3rd  col.  of  print] : In  Mesopotamia, 
civitate  Edissa  natl.  et  transl.  corporis  S.  Thomae  qui  translatus 
est  ab  India,  cujus  passio  ibidem  celebratur  v.  non.  iul. 

The  best  and  most  accurate  statement  of  the 
Apostle's  festivals  is  given,  as  was  to  be  expected,  by 
the  Epternac  copy  of  the  Hieronymian  Martyrology  : 


6o  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


thus  on  the  3rd  of  July — v.  non.  Jul.  ‘the  translation 
of  Thomas  the  Apostle  in  Edessa,'  and  on  the  21st  of 
December — xii.  Kal.  Jan.  ‘the  Martyrdom  ( passio ) of 
Thomas  the  Apostle  in  India.'  These  entries  represent 
the  real  facts  as  to  the  two  celebrations  kept  by  the 
Church  in  memory  of  the  apostle.  It  should  also  be 
noted  as  regards  note  ( b ) that  N.  (the  third  codex  and 
other  readings  of  codices  given  there)  distinctly  says 
that  the  feast  was  celebrated  in  India  on  the  3rd  of  July  : 
we  shall  recur  to  this  later. 

Besides  the  two  entries  (I.)  and  (II.)  which  we  have 
extracted  from  the  Martyrology  (pp.  lxxvi.-lxxvii),  there 
are  two  others  (in  corpore)  : — 

(III.)  v.  Kal.  Jan.  In  Edessa  Translatio  corporis  S.  Thomae 
apostoli  (c). 

(IV.)  iii.  Non.  Jun.  Natalis  S.  Thomae  apostoli. 

(c)  [Our  note  : ita  codd.  Bernen.  fragment.  Lauresh.  et  N.J 

As  regards  (III.)  v.  Kal.  Jan.,  28th  of  December,  “ In 
Edessa  the  translation  of  the  body  of  Thomas  the 
Apostle,"  as  this  is  a week  after  the  feast  kept  on  the 
2 1st,  it  may  be  taken  as  a celebration  of  the  octave. 
The  fourth  entry  (IV.)  iii.  Non.  Jun.  is  obviously  an 
error,  and  is  not  supported  by  other  texts.  Duchesne 
says  : Ex  Gregorio  Turonensi  scimus  apostoli  festum 
ab  Edessenis  Julio  mense  celebratum  fuisse;  etiam  nunc 
a Syris  Julii  3 Thomas  recolitur,  ergo  dies  v.  non.  Julii 
recte,  dies  iii.  non.  iun.  errore  assignatus  est.  The  reader 
will  have  noticed  that  in  some  of  the  best  texts  of  the 
Martyrology,  as  shown  by  the  editorial  notes  reproduced 
under  (a)  and  ( b ),  some  confusion  or  rather  blending 
of  the  ‘ natalis ' and  the  ‘ translatio  ’ has  occurred, 
though  the  same  texts  designate  Edessa  for  the  trans- 
lation and  India  for  the  martyrdom.  This  point  could 
be  further  confirmed,  if  necessary,  by  entries  in  the 
other  codices.  These  double  entries  taken  together,  if 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  61 

anything,  confirm  more  fully  the  accuracy  of  (I.) 
and  (II.). 

As  to  the  feast  the  Syrian  Church  keeps — not  that  of 
the  martyrdom,  but  of  the  translation  of  the  Relics — we 
have  in  the  Roman  Martyrology  a parallel  case  of  an- 
other Apostle.  This  Martyrology  marks  the  feast  of  St. 
James  the  Apostle,  the  brother  of  the  Evangelist  John, 
on  the  25th  of  J uly  ; this  is  not  the  feast  of  his  martyrdom, 
which,  as  the  Martyrology  informs  us,  occurred  at  Jeru- 
salem, about  Easter,  under  Herod  ( Acts  xii.  2),  but  of  the 
transfer  of  his  Relics  thence  to  Compostella,  in  Spain  : 
and  this  is  the  only  festival  of  this  Apostle  in  the  Roman 
Martyrology.1  So  also  the  Syrians  keep  only  one  feast 
of  Saint  Thomas,  the  feast  of  his  translation  to  Edessa  ; 
more  will  be  said  on  this  subject  in  another  part  of  the 
book. 

De  Rossi  also  treats  fully  (p.  xvii.,  nt  supr .)  of  the  two 
ancient  codices  of  Lucca,  edited  by  Florentini,  alias 
Florentius  Franciscus  Maria,  Vetus  Occidentalis  Ecclesiae 
Martyrologium  D.  Hieronymo  tributum,  Lucae,  1668. 
Mabillon  dated  the  older  of  these  codices  c.  800  ; De 
Rossi  would  assign  it  to  the  eleventh  century.  The 
following  two  entries  of  the  festivals  of  Saint  Thomas 
are  taken  from  the  printed  edition  : — 

xii  Kal.  Januarias.  In  Mesopotamia  civitate  Edessa  Trans- 
latio  corporis  S.  Thome  apostoli,  qui  translatus  est  ab 
India ; cujus  passio  ibidem  celebratur  v Non.  Julii. 

v Nonas  Julii.  In  Edessa  Mesopotamie  translatio  corporis 
S.  Thomae  Apostoli,  qui  passus  est  in  India. 

1 The  following  is  the  entry  ad  diem:  Sancti  Jacobi  Apostoli, 
fratris  beati  Joannis  Evangelistae,  qui  prope  festum  Paschae  ab 
Herode  Agrippa  decollatus  est.  Ejus  sacra  ossa  ab  Jerusolymis  ad 
Hispanias  hoc  die  translata,  et  in  ultimis  earum  finibus  apud  Gallae- 
ciam  recondita,  celeberrima  illarum  gentium  veneratione,  et  frequenti 
christianorum  concursu,  religionis  et  voti  causa  illuc  adeuntium  pie 
coluntur.  ( Martyrol . Roman.,  Romae,  typis  de  Propaganda  Fide, 
1878,  editio  noviss.,  SS.  D.  N.  Pio  Papa  IX.,  auspice  et  patrono,  a 
S.  Rituum  congregatione  ad  haec  usque  tempora  adprobata.) 


62  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  former  entry  blends  the  feast  of  the  ‘ natalis  ’ 
with  that  of  the  ' translatio,'  an  inaccuracy  common  to 
several  MSS,  but  both  entries  distinctly  specify  (i)  that 
the  passio  was  in  India,  (2)  that  the  translatio  was  from 
India,  and  one  of  them  (3)  specifies  that  the  feast  was 
kept  in  India  ‘v  Non.  Julii,'  or  the  3rd  of  July. 

The  Martyrologium  Bedae  (see  critical  discussion  by 
De  Rossi,  utsupr.,  p.  xxiv.§  15),  according  to  the  Bollandist 
edition,  Acta  SS.  Martii,  tom.  ii.  p.  xlii. ; and  Migne, 
P.-L.y  tom.  xciv.,  Oper.  Bedae,  tom.  v.  col.  1137,  gives  the 
following  entry  : — 

(I.)  xxi,  xii  Kal.  Jan.  Nat.  S.  Thomae  Apost. 

Florus  addit  in  ATL  [Codd.  Attrebatensis,  Torna- 
censis,  Laetiensis],  qui  passus  est  in  India,  lancea 
quippe  transfixus  occubuit.  Hujus  etenim  corpus 
translatum  est  apud  Edissam  civitatem.  T quinto 
nonas  Julii. 

From  Bedae  Opera  omnia,  Coloniae  Agrippinae,  1688, 
tom.  iii.  col.  359  ; also  Migne,  P.-L.,  tom.  xciv.,  ut  supr., 
col.  1137,  the  Martyrologium  as  given  there  : — 

xii  Calend.  Jan. 

Natale  beati  Thomae  Apostoli  qui  Parthis  et  Medis  Evan- 
gelium  praedicans,  passus  est  in  India.  Corpus  ejus  in  civitatem 
quam  Syri  Edessen  vocant,  translatum,  ibique  digno  honore  con- 
ditum  est. 

Martyrol.  Bedae , Bolland.  Acta  SS.,  ut  supr.,  p.  xxii.  ; 
Migne,  ut  supr.,  col.  965  : — 

(II.)  v Nonas  [Julii].  Translatio  S.  Thomae  apostoli  in 
Edessa  ex  India. 

Addit  B [Barberinianum]  qui  fuit  passus  in  India 
12  Kal.  Januarii. 

At  same  date  the  Cologneedition,  ut  supr.,  and  Migne, 
col.  966 : — 

v Nonas  Julii  apud  Edessam  Mesopotamiae  translatio  cor- 
poris sancti  Thomae  apostoli. 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  63 

Bede  supplies  the  following  particulars  regarding  his 
Martyrology  (at  the  close  of  his  Hist.  Eccl.,  col.  390, 
Migne,  tom.  vi.,  Oper.  et  P.-L.t  tom.  xcv.) : Martyrologium 
de  natalitiis  sanctorum  martyrum  diebus  ; in  quo  omnes 
quos  invenire  potui,  non  solum  qua  die,  verum  etiam 
quo  genere  certaminis,  vel  sub  quo  judice  mundum 
vicerint  diligenter  [al.  om.  diligenter]  adnotare  studui. 

The  reader  should  be  informed  that  in  the  discussion 
above  mentioned  De  Rossi  says  that  the  Bollandist  edition 
of  Bede’s  Martyrology  by  no  means  reproduces  all  that 
the  best  texts  of  the  same  offer,  and  he  repeats  the  caution, 
previously  given  by  Scipio  Maffei,  that  superior  MSS  of 
Bede’s  text  exist  in  the  Chapter  House  (of  the  Canons) 
at  Verona ; and,  on  his  own  account  he  adds,  that  he 
found  there  not  one  but  two  parchment  codices  of  the 
ninth  century,  numbered  lxv.  and  xc.,  which  contain 
a text  fere  absque  additamentis ; he  mentions  also  the 
existence  of  other  ninth-century  MSS  of  the  text  at  the 
Vatican.  The  ‘ Florus,’  named  after  our  first  quotation 
above  given  in  the  Martyrology,  was  a sub-deacon  of 
the  Church  of  Lyons,  A.D.  830,  who  first  enlarged  Bede's 
work. 

We  are  enabled  through  the  kindness  of  the  autho- 
rities of  the  Cathedral  of  Verona  to  further  strengthen 
the  above  witness  from  Bede's  Martyrology,  by  giving 
also  the  readings  for  the  two  festivals  from  the  two 
ancient  codices  highly  commended  by  De  Rossi.  The 
Cathedral  Chapter  is  the  fortunate  possessor  of  450 
ancient  codices,  comprising  these  two  - 

A. 

Codex  lxv.  (63)  Venerabilis  Bedae  Martyrologium , fol.  4 7 v, 
line  1 1 : — 

(1)  xii  kl  ian  sci  thome  apti 

(Kalendas  Januarias  Sancti  Thome  apostoli). 

Codex  xc.  (83)  Orationes  Hymni  Preces  Martyrologium  Bedoe , 
fol.  io9t,  3rd  last  line  : — 

(2)  xii  k ian  nat  sci  tome,  apti. 

N.B. — The  letter  h by  a later  hand  of  the  tenth  century. 


64  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


B. 

Codex  Ixv.  (63)  fol.  23v,  line  12  : — 

(3)  v n iul  Translatio  thome,  apti. 

Line  13 : — 

In  edissa  passus  vero  In  India. 

Codex  xc.,  fol.  io3v,  line  1 : — 

(4)  v non  nil  translatio  thome  apti. 

Comparing  A (1)  and  (2)  with  (I.)  of  Bollandist  edition, 
we  ascertain  that  the  true  reading  of  Bede’s  Martyrology 
at  December  21  gives  natalis  of  the  Apostle  with  no  addi- 
tional remark.  Comparing  similarly  B (3)  with  (II.)  of 
Bollandist  edition,  the  genuine  reading  of  the  text  ex- 
presses two  separate  ideas  or  facts — in  (II.)  translatio  in 
Edessa  ex  India,  and  in  B (3)  translatio  in  edissa  passus 
vero  in  India.  Thus  Bede’s  Martyrology  harmonises 
completely  with  the  Hieronymian  in  placing  the  ‘ mar- 
tyrdom in  India,’  and  the  ‘transfer  of  the  Relics  to 
Edessa,’  of  the  Apostle  Thomas. 

Codex  lxv.  contains  the  larger,  Codex  xc.  the  abbre- 
viated Martyrologimn  of  Bede. 

We  shall  close  this  section,  dealing  with  the  Litur- 
gical Books  of  the  Western  Church,  with  two  quotations 
from  the  authorised  Martyrologium  Romanum  in  present 
use,  and  a short  historical  note  on  its  revision  and 
authorised  edition. 

Duodecimo  Kalendas  Januarii. 

Calaminae  natalis  beati  Thomae  Apostoli,  qui  Parthis,  Medis, 
Persis,  et  Hyrcanis  Evangelium  praedicavit,  ac  demum  in  Indiam 
perveniens,  cum  eos  populos  in  Christiana  religione  instituisset, 
Regis  jussu  lanceis  transfixus  occubuit ; cujus  reliquiae  primo  ad 
urbem  Edessam,  deinde  Orthonam  translatae  sunt. 

Quinto  Aronas  Julii. 

Edessae  in  Mesopotamia  Translatio  sancti  Thomae  ex  India, 
cujus  reliquiae  Orthonam  postea  translatae  sunt. 


Interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  San  Thome 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  65 

The  Roman  Martyrology  now  sanctioned  for  use  was 
prepared  by  Cardinal  Baronius,  and  approved  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.  in  a brief  dated  January  14,  1584;  it  is  a 
new  edition  of  the  Martyrologies  of  Ado,  Archbishop  of 
Vienne,  and  of  Usuard,  revised  and  completed.  As  to 
the  part  which  the  Pope  personally  took  in  the  revision, 
Baronius  states  in  the  Tractatus , which  is  prefixed  to 
every  edition,  cap.  viii. : ‘ Cui  [videlicet  Martyrologio] 
etsi  ex  nostris  Notationibus  levis  certe  aliqua  accessit 
emendatio,  vel  si  quid  additum  reperitur  (quod  quidem 
perraro  factum  invenies),  id  nos  ejus,  cujus  summa  est 
in  Ecclesia  auctoritas,  constanti  voluntate  fecisse  lector 
intelligat.’ 

Baronius  speaks  of  three  editions — the  third,  of  1584, 
is  his  work ; the  two  preceding  he  styles  faulty. 

V. — The  Witness  of  the  Greek  and  Abyssinian 
Churches 

The  Liturgical  Books  of  the  Greek  Church  comprise 
among  others  : — 

Ta  Mrjvala,  the  Menaea , used  in  the  plural,  denotes 
the  entire  series  of  Office  books  which  are  usually 
bound  in  twelve  volumes,  one  for  each  month.  A 
single  volume  of  the  compilation,  for  a month,  is  termed 
to  fx,r]valov  in  the  singular.  The  Menaea  contain  the 
variable  parts  of  the  Offices  for  fixed  festivals,  comprising 
a variety  of  elements. 

To  Mr)vo\6iyiov,  the  Menologium , answers  somewhat  the 
purpose  of  the  Martyrologinm  of  the  Western  Church  ; 
it  contains  the  acts  and  lives  of  martyrs  and  saints. 
One  was  compiled  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Basil  (a.d. 
867-886);  and  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  (a.d.  91  i) 
directed  Simeon  Metaphrastes  to  compile  the  lives  of 
saints  and  the  acts  of  martyrs  arranged  in  order  accord- 
ing to  the  months  of  the  year.  This  was  the  earliest 

E 


66  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


compilation  of  the  sort ; there  is  another  in  Latin  by 
Surius,  and  that  of  Alban  Butler  in  English  is  perhaps 
the  latest. 

To  crwagapiov,  the  Synaxarium  : Goar  defines  it  ‘ sanc- 
torum vitas  volumen  brevibus  verbis  complectens  crvva- 
%apLov  est.’  In  the  plural,  awa^apua  denote  the  twelve 
volumes  for  the  year  containing  short  lives  of  saints  and 
acts  of  martyrs  read  in  the  Liturgical  Offices. 

The  two  first  quotations  given  below  are  from  the 
Synaxarium ; the  other  two  are  from  the  Menologium,- 
compiled  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Basil. 

The  Synaxarium  Ecclesiae  Constantinopolitance 1 gives 
(col.  1 13  seq.) : — 


‘ The  same  month  [October]  6.’ 


/ 


‘ The  conflict  of  saint  Thomas  the  apostle,  named  also 
Didymus  [the  Twin].  He  having  preached  the  word  of  God  to 
the  Parthians,  and  the  Medes,  and  the  Persians,  and  the  Indians, 
and  having  brought  great  multitudes  to  the  faith  of  Christ  by 
miracles  innumerable,  was  put  to  death  by  Misdeus,  King  of  the 
Indians,  because  Uzanes,  his  son,  and  Tertia,  the  mother,  and 
Narkia  had  believed,  and  were  by  him  baptised.  On  this 
account  he  was  consigned  to  five  soldiers,  who,  taking  him  up 


1 Edited  by  the  Bollandists,  ‘ Propyleum  ad  Acta  SS.,  November, 
Bruxelles,  1902,  e codice  Sirmondiano,  nunc  Berolinensi,  Opera  et 
Studio  Hippolyti  Delehaye.’ 

As  to  the  value  of  the  text,  we  reproduce  for  the  reader’s  in- 
formation some  of  the  remarks  of  the  editor  ex  prolegomenis , col. 
i.-ii.  : ‘ Licet  enim  archetypum  nequaquam  dicendum  sit  Sirmon- 
dianum  Synaxarium,  caeteris  omnibus  quae  inspeximus,  tot  commodis 
praestare  visum  est,  ut  facile  palmam  tulerit.  Etenim  vel  hac  sola 
ratione  multis  antecellit  quod  uno  volumine  duodecim  menses 
complectitur,  cum  in  aliis  plerisque  vel  dimidia  tantum  vel  etiam 
minor  contineatur  ; nec  ita  raro  contingat  ex  genuinis  fratribus  alterum 
in  nostris  regionibus,  puta  Parisiis,  commorari  alterum  non  interierit 
in  locis  multum  dissitis,  puta  Hierosolymis  vel  penes  monachos 
Athonenses  peregrinari.  Integritate  quoque  alia  pleraque  superat 
. . . esto  inter  vetustissima  non  connumeretur,  antiqua  tamen  ex 
stirpe  procul  dubio  ortum  est,  simulque  uberrimum,  ita  ut  sanctorum 
nominibus  festorumque  commemorationibus  affluet.’ 


THOMAS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  INDIA  67 

the  mount,  covered  him  with  wounds  and  made  him  attain  his 
blessed  end.  Nisifor  and  Uzanes  remained  on  the  mount ; the 
apostle,  appearing,  told  them  to  be  of  good  heart.  For  he  had 
ordained  Nisifor  a priest  and  Uzanes  a deacon. 

‘ After  these  things  had  happened,  the  son  of  the  King  was 
suffering  from  a mortal  disease,  and  the  King  asked  that  a relic 
of  the  apostle  might  be  brought  to  his  son  who  was  already 
beyond  hope  of  recovery,  and  near  death.  As  the  body  of  the 
apostle  was  not  found,  he  ordered  earth  from  thg_grave  to  be 
fetched.  On  this  earth  touching  the  dying  man  he  was  cured  at 
.once.  But  the  King,  even  then  not  having  believed,  died  a 
corporal  and  spiritual  death.’ 

Col.  781  : — 

‘ The  month  of  June,  30.’ 

(‘Feast  of  the  Commemoration  of  the  Apostles.’) 

‘ 5.  The  seventh  Thomas,  who  is  also  named  Didymus  [the 
Twin].  He  having  preached  the  God-Word  to  the  Parthians, 
the  Medes,  the  Persians,  and  the  Indians,  was  by  these  killed, 
transfixed  with  lances.’ 

The  Menologium. — The  subjoined  extract  is  taken 
from  the  best  edition  of  the  work,  one  superbly  illus- 
trated ; divided  into  three  parts  with  Greek  text  and 
Latin  translation. 1 

Pars  i.,  p.  97  : — 

‘October,  the  sixth  day. — The  contending  of  saint  Thomas 
the  Apostle.  After  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  when 
the  Apostles  each  went  to  the  countries  which  had  fallen  to  them 
by  lot  to  teach,  to  saint  Thomas  fell  the  country  of  the  Indians, 
where  he  preached  Christ.  Because  he  had  brought  to  the 
faith  of  Christ  the  wife  of  the  King  of  the  Indians  and  her  son, 
he  is  traduced  before  the  King,  who  orders  Thomas  to  be  cast 
into  prison  with  other  convicts.  The  King’s  son,  with  his 
mother  and  others,  not  a few,  enter  the  prison  by  bribing  the 
soldiers,  are  by  him  baptised,  and,  after  a suitable  delay,  from 

1 Jussu  Basilii  Imper.  Graece  olim  editum,  munificentia  et  liberali- 
tate  SS.  D.  N.  Benedicti  XIII.  nunc  primum  Graece  et  Latine  prodit, 
studio  Hannibalis  Card.  Albani,  Urbini,  1727. 


68  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


among  them  priests  and  deacons  are  ordained,  who  taught  in 
the  name  of  Christ.  On  the  King  coming  to  know  this,  being 
angered,  he  ordered  the  Apostle  to  be  taken  from  the  prison  and 
consigned  to  soldiers  to  be  executed.  The  holy  man  thus  taken 
to  the  mount  is  by  them  transfixed  with  a lance  and  killed.’ 

Pars  iii.,  p.  146  : — 

‘■June  the  thirtieth 
‘ Synaxis  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.’ 

‘The  seventh,  Thomas  Didymus,  is  by  the  Indians  trans- 
fixed by  lances.’ 

As  regards  the  Abyssinian  Church,  we  may  quote 
from  an  Ethiopian  Calendar  of  the  twelfth  century, 
which  was  published  by  Job  Ludolf.1  This  Calendar  con- 
tains the  following  entry  for  the  feast  of  Saint  Thomas  : — 

In  mense  Octobris  6,  Thomas  Indiae  Apostolus. 

The  practice  of  the  Greek  Church  of  keeping  the 
Apostle’s  feast  on  the  6th  of  October,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  had  affected  other  Eastern  churches,  and  now  we 
find  the  Abyssinian  Church,  which  was  dependent  on 
the  Church  of  Alexandria,  observing  the  same  date. 
As  is  known,  even  to  the  present  day  the  Abyssinian 
schismatics  receive  their  ‘Abbuna’  or  bishop  from  the 
schismatic  Coptic  patriarch  of  Alexandria. 

1 Commentarius  ad  suam  Historian 1 Aethiopicam , Francofurti, 
1691,  pp.  389-436- 


CHAPTER  III 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 

On  the  broad  fact  that  Saint  Thomas  the  Apostle, 
according  to  the  evidence  of  antiquity,  had  preached 
the  Gospel  and  sealed  his  teaching  by  his  martyrdom 
in  India,  it  should  be  taken  for  granted  that  if  his  tomb 
were  to  be  discoverable  anywhere,  it  would  naturally 
be  found  within  the  limits  of  India  proper.  Yet  this, 
which  in  itself  is  but  an  historical  aphorism,  has  met 
with  the  strongest  opposition  ever  since  the  Portuguese 
first  announced  the  discovery  of  his  tomb  at  Mylapore. 
This  opposition  has  come  first  and  chiefly  from  quarters 
which  must  cause  an  impartial  historian,  who  patiently 
investigates  the  whole  history  of  the  case,  to  consider 
the  same  as  being  rather  the  outcome  of  ‘ odium 
theologicum,’  than  arising  from  insufficient  historical 
evidence.1 

1 Basnage  was  amongst  the  first  to  deny  the  Indian  Apostolate  and 
martyrdom  of  Saint  Thomas,  and  Assemani  ( Bibliotheca  Orientalis, 
tom.  iv.  p.  25  ff.)  gives  a full  refutation  to  his  statements.  La  Croze 
( Histoire  du  Christianisme  des  Indes , Lahaye,  1724)  rejects  the  tradi- 
tion summarily.  Tillemont  ( Memoires  Hist.  Eccl.,  Venice,  1732,  tom. 
i.  p.  359),  on  the  erroneous  supposition  that  the  entire  body  of  the 
Apostle  was  at  Edessa,  declines  to  accept  the  tradition  ; in  his  ad- 
ditional Note  4 (p.  613)  he  accepts  a statement  of  Theodoret,  and 
thereupon  builds  a further  supposition  that  Thomas,  one  of  Manes’ 
disciples,  may  have  given  occasion  to  the  supposition  that  the  Apostle 
had  visited  India;  a refutation  of  this  will  be  found  in  Chapter  VI. 
The  Rev.  J.  Hough  ( History  of  Christianity  in  India , London,  1859, 
vol.  i.  p.  30  ff.)  denies  that  any  Apostle  was  ever  in  India.  Sir  John 
Kaye  ( Christianity  in  India , London,  1859)  considers  it  a worthless 
legend.  The  Rev.  G.  Milne-Rae  ( The  Syrian  Church  in  India , 
London,  1892)  rejects  the  tradition  ; while  Dr.  George  Smith  {The 

69 


70  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

A plausible  excuse  for  the  general  feeling  of  scep- 
ticism created  by  these  writers  was,  in  part,  offered  by 
the  want  of  previous  historical  knowledge  shown  by  the 
Portuguese  authorities  and  writers  in  India  who  claimed 
to  have  discovered  the  body,  or  the  entire  remains  of 
the  Apostle,  coupled  with  other  uncritical  details. 

Once  the  opposition  view,  arising  at  first  from  the 
doubt  regarding  the  tomb,  was  taken  up  and  ruthlessly 
exploited,  it  was  extended  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
by  the  Apostle  within  the  geographical  limits  of  India, 
and  a widely  extending  prejudice  was  formed.  It  is  only 
in  more  recent  times,  when  men  indifferent  to  that 
‘ odium,’  or  guided  by  their  familiarity  with,  or  their 
long  researches  in  India  approached  the  subject,  that 
they  came  gradually  to  admit  the  Apostle’s  mission  to 
India,  and  to  consider  the  strong  historical  claim  of 
Mylapore  to  be  the  possible  site  of  his  martyrdom  and 
burial,  as  not  unfounded.  Some  of  these  expressions 
of  opinion  will  be  found  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  eliminating  the  con- 

Conversion  of  India,  1903)  ignores  the  subject  altogether,  dating  the 
first  conversion  of  India  from  A.D.  193. 

As  a sample  of  some  of  the  absurdities  put  forward  regarding 
the  Apostle  Thomas’s  connection  with  India,  we  take  the  following 
from  this  last  writer’s  work,  Geography  of  British  India , by  Dr. 
George  Smith,  London,  1882,  pp.  370-371  : ‘ The  southern  suburb  of 
Saint  Thome,  two  miles  south  of  the  Fort  [of  Madras],  with  an  old 
Roman  Catholic  church,  is  identified  by  Heber  and  by  H.  H.  Wilson 
with  the  Mailapoor,  or  Mihilapoor,  where  the  Apostle  Thomas  is  said 
to  have  been  martyred  on  21st  December  58  a.d.  The  rocky  knoll 
of  the  Little  Mount,  five  miles  south-west  of  the  Fort,  with  church  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Thomas,  attracts  crowds,  under  the  belief  that  the  Apostle 
perished  there.  A cave  in  which  he  concealed  himself  and  a cell  in 
which  he  worshipped  are  shown  ; but  it  has  been  proved  that  it  is 
Thomas  Aquinas  whose  name  was  given  to  this  place.'  The  gross 
absurdity  of  the  last  sentence,  from  a historical  point  of  view,  passes 
conception  ; and  yet  this  is  the  sort  of  stuff  that  is  put  before  the 
rising  generation  in  the  Government  and  Protestant  missionary 
schools  in  India,  and,  for  all  we  know,  it  may  yet  be  the  text-book 
for  geography  in  those  schools  ! The  italics  are  ours. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


7i 


troversial  element  from  an  historical  investigation,  it 
has  been  thought  best,  after  setting  forth  the  available 
evidence  for  the  Indian  Apostolate,  to  bring  forward 
such  evidence  as  will  uphold  for  Mylapore 1 the  claim 
to  the  tomb. 

I. — The  Visit  of  Theodore  to  the  Indian  Shrine 
of  the  Apostle  Thomas  before  a.d.  590,  as 

SET  FORTH  BY  ST.  GREGORY  OF  TOURS 

Gregory  of  Tours,  the  best  known  of  the  writers  of 
the  Merovingian  period  and  the  father  of  Frankish 
history,  born,  probably  on  November  30  in  538,  at 
Clermont-Ferrand,  the  ancient  Avernia,  bore  the  name 
of  George  Florentius  which  he  subsequently  dropped  on 
assuming  that  of  Gregory  from  his  maternal  great-grand- 
father, Gregory,  bishop  of  Langres.  He  was  educated 
by  his  paternal  uncle,  St.  Gall,  bishop  of  Clermont, 
546-554.  In  573  he  was  elected  to  the  see  of  Tours. 
Fortunatus  of  Poitiers,  the  Christian  poet,  has  left  a 
laudatory  poem  commemorating  the  event,  addressed 
‘ad  cives  Turonicos  de  Gregorio  episcopo.’ 

The  Bishop  of  Tours  in  his  In  Gloria  Martyrum , 
a work  which  he  revised  in  590,  shortly  before  his 
death  (which  occurred  on  the  17th  November,  593  or 
594),  writes  : ‘ Thomas  the  Apostle,  according  to  the 
narrative  of  his  martyrdom,  is  stated  to  have  suffered 
in  India.  His  holy  remains  (corpus),  after  a long 
interval  of  time,  were  removed  to  the  city  of  Edessa 
in  Syria  and  there  interred.  In  that  part  of  India 
where  they  first  rested,  stand  a monastery  and  a church 
of  striking  dimensions,  elaborately  adorned  and  de- 

1 The  now  accepted  form  of  writing  the  name  in  English  is 
Mylapore  ; but  this  to  a foreigner  would  not  convey  an  idea  of  the 
right  pronunciation  of  the  word.  The  Tamil,  or  current  native  form, 
is  given  in  English  by  Colonel  Yule  as  Alayilappur j with  the  Latin 
sound  of  vowels,  termed  the  Italian,  we  would  write  MailApur. 


72  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


signed.  . . . This,  Theodore,  who  had  been  to  the  place, 
narrated  to  us.’ 

Gregory’s  authority  for  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle 
Thomas  being  situated  in  India  came  from  an  eye- 
witness, Theodore,  probably  a travelled  Syrian  Christian, 
who  had  visited  the  Indian  Shrine  and  venerated  the 
Relics  at  Edessa  as  well  : he  may  then  have  gone  to 
Gaul  making,  or  completing,  a tour  to  the  celebrated 
sanctuaries  of  Christendom,  and  may  have  so  come 
to  Tours  also  to  venerate  the  renowned  shrine  of  St. 
Martin.  In  the  interesting  evidence  recorded  by 
Gregory  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixth  century  the 
following  points  are  brought  clearly  to  light  : the 
existence  of  a narrative,  or  Acts  of  the  martyrdom  of 
the  Apostle,  ‘historia  passionis  eius,'  which  declares 
that  he  suffered  martyrdom  in  India,  ‘in  India  passus 
declaratur ' ; the  existence  of  the  first  tomb  of  the 
Apostle,  ‘in  loco  regionis  Indiae  quo  prius  quievit’;  a 
church  of  large  dimensions  covering  the  Indian  tomb, 
‘ templum  mirae  magnitudinis  ’ ; a monastery  adjacent, 
‘ monasterium  habetur,’  the  monks  of  which,  no  doubt, 
conducted  the  services  at  the  Shrine  ; the  further  know- 
ledge that,  after  the  remains  of  the  Apostle  had  remained 
buried  in  India  for  a long  time,  they  were  thence  re- 
moved to  Edessa,  ‘corpus  post  multum  tempus  ad- 
sumptum  in  civitatem  quam  Syri  Aedissam  vocant ' ; 
and,  finally,  that  they  were  buried  anew  at  Edessa, 
‘ ibique  sepultum.’  These  several  points,  as  the  reader 
will  remark,  embrace  all  and  even  more  than  is 
necessary  to  establish  the  fact  of  the  early  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  the  Indian  tomb  of  the  Apostle. 

The  reader  may  be  interested  to  know  in  what  spirit 
Gregory  undertook  the  task  of  writing  the  lives  of  the 
saints  and  martyrs  of  God,  and  of  recording  the  miracles 
they  worked.  We  extract  for  this  purpose  a short 
quotation  from  his  introduction  to  his  book  In  Gloria 


Crypt  of  San  Thome  Cathedral,  showing  Traditional 
Tomb  of  St.  Thomas 


SAINT  THOMAS'S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


73 


Confessorum  {infra,  pt.  ii.  p.  748)  : Nobis,  ut  saepe  testati 
sumus,  nec  artis  ingenium  suppeditat  nec  sermonum 
facundia  juvat,  veniam  temeritati  libenter  indulgeat 
(lector),  quem  non  jactantia  mundalis  erigit  ut  scribal, 
sed  depremit  pudor  ut  sileat,  amor  timorque  Christi 
impellit  ut  referat. 

J The  reader  may  further  desire  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  pains  he  took  to  obtain  direct  information  from  eye- 
witnesses, and  he  is  careful  to  indicate  the  source. 
Here  is  a list  of  some  of  those  who  brought  him  in- 
formation from  foreign  lands  which  he  incorporated  in 
these  writings  ; for  fuller  details  the  reader  should  turn 
to  the  editor’s  general  introduction  to  St.  Gregory’s 

hagiological  writings,  pp.  456-461,  written  by  Krusch. 

— 

The  sixth  century  was  by  no  means  wanting  in  pilgrims 
whose  piety  urged  them  to  travel  to  far  and  distant 
countries  to  visit  the  places  where  reposed  the  mortal 
remains  of  God’s  faithful  servants,  and  who  came  to  Gaul 
as  well,  or  started  thence.  Among  such  informants 
Gregory  names  the  Deacon  Agiulph,  whom  he  sent  to 
Rome  in  590,  who  brought  back  thence  relics  of  martyrs 
from  the  catacombs,  and  who  gave  him  the  particulars  of 
the  life  of  Pope  John,  of  which  he  made  use.  Another 
deacon  of  Tours  had  visited  Jerusalem,  and  had  made 
the  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Places,  whose  testimony 
Gregory  quotes  as  that  of  ‘our  deacon  ’ (67.  Mart.,  c.  1), 
the  ‘man  named  John’  (c.  18),  and  again  the  ‘ deacon 
John'  (c.  87.)  There  occurs  mention  of  probably 
another  pilgrim  who  had  visited  Jerusalem  and  had 
come  to  Tours  {ibid.,  c.  5).  Theodore  came  to  Gaul  from 
India  and  met  Gregory,  and  gave  him  the  interesting 
historical  details,  part  of  which  the  reader  has  seen 
above.  Gregory  learns  particulars  concerning  St. 
Julian,  whose  life  and  miracles  he  described  ‘fidelium 
fratrum  relatione’  {Mir.  S.Jul.,  c.  33).  He  is  enabled 
to  give  the  acts  of  the  so-named  ‘ Seven  Sleepers  ’ 


74  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


(martyrs  who  had  suffered  at  Ephesus),  from  a Syriac 
MS,  ‘passio  eorum  quam  Siro  quodam  interpretante  in 
Latinum  transtulimus  ’ ; another  codex  gives  the  name, 
‘interpretante  Johanne  Syro.’  To  him,  probably, 
Gregory  also  owes  other  Eastern  details  incorporated 
in  his  works. 

We  now  pass  on  to  give  the  reader  the  sequel  of 
Gregory’s  narrative  concerning  the  Apostle  Thomas. 
This  describes  a quite  natural  scene,  not  uncommon 
even  In  Europe  in  the  early  and  later  Middle  Ages, 
when  great  fairs  were  held  in  certain  places  on  the 
festival  of  some  saint  greatly  venerated  by  the  people  : 
‘ In  the  above  named  town,  in  which,  as  we  said,  the 
sacred  bones  {artus)  were  buried,  there  is  on  the  feast 
day  a great  gathering,  lasting  for  thirty  days,  of  all  classes 
of  people,  coming  from  different  countries,  with  votive 
offerings  and  for  trade,  buying  and  selling  without 
paying  any  tax.  During  these  days,  which  occur  in 
the  fifth  month,  great  and  unusual  blessings  are  con- 
ferred on  the  people.  . . . While  at  other  times  you 
have  to  draw  water  from  wells  at  a depth  of  over  a 
hundred  feet,  now  [at  the  season  of  the  festival]  if  you 
dig  to  even  a short  depth  you  find  an  abundance  of 
water,  which  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  favour  of  the  blessed 
Apostle.  . . . After  that,  there  is  such  a supernatural 
downpour  of  rain  that  the  entrance  of  the  church 
and  the  grounds  around  are  swept  so  clean  of  all 
defilement  and  dust  that  you  would  think  the  ground 
had  not  been  trodden.'  We  shall  examine  the  in- 
cidents of  this  account,  and  endeavour  to  bring  out 
more  prominently  its  special  features. 

First  of  all,  mention  is  made  of  the  town  ‘ in  which 
the  sacred  bones  were  buried  ’ ; this  clearly  points  to 
Edessa,  and  has  been  so  taken  by  subsequent  writers. 
But  do  the  climatic  and  other  details  given  above  suit 
Edessa  and  its  surroundings?  We  have  grave  reasons 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  75 

for  suggesting  they  do  not ; to  us  it  appears  there  has 
occurred  a confusion  in  reporting  these  details,  and  that 
there  has  been  a blending  of  the  accounts  given  by 
Theodore  of  two  festivals,  one  kept  at  Edessa  and  the 
other  in  India.  But  these  cannot  be  appropriately  dis- 
cussed until  the  date  of  the  festival  has  been  ascertained. 

Gregory,  after  telling  us  that  during  the  festival  a 
fair  is  held,  and  a great  gathering  takes  place  lasting 
for  thirty  days,  adds  that  these  days  occur  ‘ in  the  fifth 
month.’  As  he  does  not  offer  any  hint  to  make  us 
suppose  he  is  reckoning  by  a foreign  calendar,  we  have 
no  option  but  to  conclude  it  must  be  the  fifth  month  of 
the  general  calendar  in  use  in  Western  Europe — that  is, 
the  Roman  Calendar.  The  fifth  month  of  this  Calendar 
is  the  Quintilis  (fifth),  afterwards  named  Julius,  or  our 
July.1  The  feast,  which  lasted  a month,  occupied  the 
whole  of  that  month.  Gregory  continues:  ‘ Decursis 
igitur  festivitatis  diebus,’  &c.  (this  covers  the  whole  of 
July).  'The  days  of  the  festival  having  passed,’  &c. 
Thereafter,  or  from  this  time  forth,  'there  is  such  a super- 
natural downpour  of  rain,’  &c.  ‘ Dehinc  emissa  divinitus 
pluvia,’  &c.  This  heavy  rainfall  witnessed  by  Theodore 
— for  all  these  local  details  appear  to  have  been  com- 
municated by  him  to  the  writer,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
how  else  Gregory  came  to  know  them — occurred  at  the 
beginning  of  the  following  month,  August,  when  the 
festival  was  over.  Looking  more  carefully  into  the 

1 The  Roman  Calendar  year,  said  to  have  been  introduced  by 
Romulus,  consisted  of  ten  months — 1,  Martius  ; 2,  Aprilis  ; 3,  Maius  ; 
4,  Junius  ; 5,  Quintilis  (afterwards  Julius,  in  honour  of  Julius  Caesar)  ; 
6,  Sextilis  (afterwards  Augustus,  from  Octavianus  Augustus) ; 7,  Sep- 
tember ; 8,  October;  9,  November;  10,  December.  The  year  so 
reckoned  agreed  neither  with  the  solar  period  of  the  earth’s  rotation, 
nor  with  the  lunar  course  ; so  Numa  Pompilius  is  said  to  have  added 
the  two  months  that  head  the  present  calendar — Januarius  and  Feb- 
ruarius.  It  was  Julius  Caesar  who  fixed  the  calendar,  named  after 
him  ‘ Julian,’  on  an  astronomical  basis. 


76  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

details,  it  is  necessary  to  note  that  the  drought  is  de- 
scribed as  being  extreme  before,  but  at  the  festival  water 
is  easily  found ; there  must  then  have  been  partial  rain- 
falls during  the  month  of  J uly — the  days  when  the  feast  was 
kept ; while  the  heavy  downfall,  which  sweeps  the  roads 
and  paved  enclosures  so  clean  as  to  leave  no  speck  of 
dust  or  dirt  behind,  came  in  the  beginning  of  August. 
Can  this  description  of  abundance  of  water  supply,  and 
of  partial  and  torrential  rains  in  July  and  August  fit  the 
case  of  Edessa  ? We  say  decidedly  no  ; for  that  precisely 
is  the  driest  and  most  parched  season  of  the  year  in  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia.  The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that 
the  Mesopotamia  of  the  Romans  embraced  the  city  of 
Edessa,  and  it  is  to  this  we  refer.  Lately,  while  on 
a visit  to  Rome,  we  had  a special  opportunity  to  test 
the  accuracy  of  our  earlier  information  on  this  subject 
regarding  the  climate  at  Urfa — the  name  by  which  the 
old  city  of  Edessa  is  designated  by  the  Arabs.  Having 
met  with  natives  of  the  place,  we  had  the  opportunity  of 
personally  questioning  them  on  the  subject.  We  elicited 
that  the  season  of  the  rains  occurs  in  the  months  January 
to  March  inclusive  ; during  the  whole  period  of  summer 
it  does  not  rain,  and  the  greatest  heats  prevail  in  July 
and  August,  when  the  land  is  quite  parched.  The  Syrian 
fifth  month  corresponds  to  January,  the  year  commenc- 
ing in  September ; the  depth  of  wells  at  Urfa  averages 
twenty  feet.  All  this  clearly  shows  that  the  description 
of  the  festival  of  Saint  Thomas  given  by  the  Bishop 
of  Tours  and  held  in  July  cannot  be  that  celebrated  at 
Edessa.  Further,  the  July  festival  in  honour  of  the 
Apostle  can  be  no  other  than  that  shown  in  the  Church 
service-books,  fixed  for  the  3rd  of  that  month,  and  cele- 
brated alike  at  Edessa  and  in  India.  If,  then,  climatic 
circumstances  force  us  to  the  conclusion  that  this  festival 
cannot  be  taken  for  a celebration  at  Edessa,  can  it  be 
applicable  to  the  celebration  in  India  at  the  Shrine  ? 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  77 

Let  us  look  at  the  details  given  of  the  fair  held  during 
the  festival.  The  custom  is  noted  that  during  this  fair  the 
fees  or  charges  usually  levied  at  fairs  were  not  exacted. 
Now  this  is  a peculiarly  Indian  custom,  yet  surviving  in 
places  where  Western  usages  have  not  superseded  those 
of  native  origin,  and  indicates  that  the  narrative  is  in 
touch  with  India.  At  certain  large  and  special  fairs — 
often  connected  with  religious  festivals — in  order  also  to 
attract  people  from  surrounding  districts,  as  also  when 
the  object  is  to  establish  an  annual  fair  at  some  new 
centre,  or  to  open  a new  market  on  a private  property, 
the  remission  of  customary  rent  charges,  for  a time,  is 
rather  the  rule  than  the  exception,  whereas  at  the  former, 
viz.  the  religious  fairs,  usually  no  charges  are  made. 

What  are  the  climatic  influences  prevailing  at  the 
Indian  Shrine  of  the  Apostle  at  Mylapore  during  the 
months  of  July  and  August  ? The  east  or  Coromandel 
coast  has  the  benefit  of  two  monsoons  or  rainy  seasons  ; 
one,  the  north-east  monsoon,  during  October  and  Nov- 
ember, the  rainfall  in  the  latter  month  being  the 
heaviest  in  the  year ; the  other,  the  south-west  mon- 
soon, which  coming  across  the  peninsula  from  the 
Malabar  coast  prevails  from  July  to  some  time  in  Sep- 
tember. The  rains  during  this  monsoon  are  not  heavy. 
Yet  there  are  occasionally  heavy  downpours,  like  that 
described  in  the  text,  occurring  when  accompanied  by 
thunder  storms,  as  the  writer  himself  has  witnessed,  in 
August.  One  such  heavy  monsoon-fall  in  early  August 
is  all  that  is  required  to  explain  the  altered  scene  de- 
scribed in  the  text.  To  those  who  witness  a monsoon  out- 
burst for  the  first  time,  the  scene  is  singularly  impressive 
for  the  cooling  change  it  effects  in  the  atmosphere,  the 
removal  of  all  dirt  and  filth  from  the  surface  of  the  land, 
and  the  abundant  supply  of  water  it  affords  after  a long 
and  trying  season  of  heat  and  drought.  It  is  there- 
fore not  surprising  to  find  one  ignorant  of  the  causes 


78  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

producing  it,  like  Theodore,  proclaim  it  a God-sent 
rain. 

It  is  appropriate  to  note  also  that  the  earlier  falls  in 
July,  when  they  do  occur,  mitigate  the  temporary  water 
famine  which  otherwise  would  prevail ; this  evil  was 
specially  severe  before  the  present  reservoirs  for  the 
supply  of  Madras  were  formed  ; even  this  feature  of  the 
land  has  not  been  overlooked  in  the  narrative. 

But  might  not  the  rainfall  of  the  south-west  monsoon 
have  been  much  heavier  on  the  Madras  coast  centuries 
ago  than  now  ? There  can  be  little  doubt  that  such  was 
the  case.  Anybody  who  has  paid  attention  to  natural 
causes  which  increase,  diminish,  or  bar  altogether  the 
downfall  of  rain  from  moisture-laden  clouds  traversing 
any  tract  of  country,  must  know  that  it  is  regulated  by 
the  existence  of  forest  lands  on  that  tract.  If  there  be 
an  abundant  or  a sufficient  supply  of  forests  the  rainfall 
will  be  abundant  and  ample  from  such  passing  clouds, 
but  if  the  land  be  deforested  by  the  improvident  hand  of 
man,  the  tract  will  receive  next  to  no  rain,  except  under 
peculiar  atmospheric  circumstances,  combined  with  the 
amount  of  moisture  prevailing  in  the  air.  For  the  pre- 
sent purpose  it  is  sufficient  to  inform  the  reader  that  the 
whole  of  the  hinterland  of  Madras  has  been  entirely 
deforested  almost  as  far  back  as  the  Nilgherries. 
The  present  data  of  rainfall,  therefore,  can  afford 
no  criterion  of  what  it  must  have  been  during  the 
prevalence  of  the  south-west  monsoon  in  ages  back, 
before  the  denudation  of  the  land  had  taken  place. 
The  oft-recurring  kad  or  kadu  (forest  or  jungle)  in 
the  names  of  villages  and  places  in  the  hinterland 
of  the  peninsula,  shows  how  different  was  the  state  of 
the  land  formerly.  Ptolemy,  in  mentioning  the  early 
capital  of  the  Sora,  now  styled  the  Chola,  country,  styles 
it  regia  Arkati,  which,  by  common  accord,  is  taken  to 
designate  Arkot.  The  Tamil  form  is  Ar-kad,  which 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  79 

means  ‘ the  six  forests ' ; this  town  lies  due  west  of 
Madras,  and  may  be  taken  as  a sample  of  other  names 
that  could  be  produced.  These  remarks  are  also  borne 
out  by  the  fact  that  the  south-west  monsoon  clouds  may 
now  be  seen  fleeting  over  Madras  and  denying  the 
parched  land  the  benefit  of  the  moisture  held  in  sus- 
pense, which  they  subsequently  discharge  in  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  under  more  favourable  atmospheric  conditions, 
as  captains  of  steamships  are  often  known  to  remark. 

These  observations  may  be  thought  sufficient  to  justify 
our  view  that  St.  Gregory  wrongly  attributed  the  scene 
of  the  festival  described  as  occurring  at  Edessa,  whereas 
it  could  only  fit  the  surroundings  of  the  Indian  Shrine. 
Even  the  error  in  giving  the  depth  of  the  wells  in  that 
neighbourhood,  while  not  at  all  applicable  to  Edessa, 
indicates  that  the  narrator  was  a travelled  Eastern  who 
had  crossed  the  Syrian  desert,  and  having  but  a slight 
acquaintance  of  India,  supplemented  his  remarks  as  to 
the  extent  of  drought  with  home  ideas. 

One  further  remark  should  be  added  on  the  details 
of  this  pregnant  narrative.  While  the  monastery  men- 
tioned attached  to  the  Shrine  and  Church  suggests 
Mesopotamian  Ascetics  and  Monks  and  consequently 
a Syrian  Liturgy,  Ritual,  and  Calendar — for  the  clergy 
of  every  Rite  invariably  carry  these  with  them  wher- 
ever they  go  ; the  record  that  even  in  India  the  feast 
of  the  3rd  of  July  was  kept,  shows  that  there,  in 
accordance  with  their  Calendar,  the  clergy  kept  the  1 
feast  of  the  Translation  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  to 
Edessa.  All  this  admirably  fits  in  with,  and  confirms 
the  data  previously  given  from  the  Hieronymian 
Calendar.  As  to  whether  the  taint  of  Nestorian  error 
had  already  sullied  the  purity  of  primitive  faith,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  V.,  p.  199,  note.1 

1 Gregorii  Tvronensis  Opera , ediderunt  W.  Arndt  et  Br.  Krusch, 
Hannoverae,  1884  (in  two  parts,  and  forms  iotnus  primus  of  Scriptores 


8o  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


II. — King  Alfred’s  Embassy  to  the  Shrine, 

A.D.  883 

The  record  of  the  next  visit  to  the  Apostle’s  tomb 
has  come  down  to  us  with  something  like  an  interval 
of  three  hundred  years.  As  the  former  went  from 
the  extreme  East,  so  this  goes  from  the  extreme  West. 
A venerable  authority,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  re- 
lating the  events  of  the  early  history  of  England,  tells 
us  that  the  greatest  of  her  Anglo-Saxon  kings  who 
ruled  over  Southern  England  also  venerated  the  memory 
of  the  Apostle  of  India  and  showed  himself  grateful 

Rerum  Merovingicarum , belonging  to  the  series  in  4to  of  Monument  a 
Germaniae  Historica),  part  ii.  pp.  507-508 , Liber  in  Gloria  Marty  rum, 
cap.  31-32  : — 

‘Thomas  apostolus  secundum  historiam  passionis  eius  in  India 
passus  declaratur.  Cujus  beatum  corpus  post  multum  tempus  ad- 
sumptum  in  civitatem  quam  Syri  Aedissam  vocant  translatum  est, 
ibique  sepultum.  Ergo  in  loco  regionis  Indiae,  quo  prius  quievit, 
monasterium  habetur  et  templum  mirae  magnitudinis  diligenterque 
exornatum  atque  compositum.  In  hac  igitur  aede  magnum  mira- 
culum  Deus  ostendit.  Lignus  etenim  inibi  positus,  atque  inluminatus, 
ante  locum  sepulturae  ipsius  perpetualiter  die  noctuque  divino  nutu 
resplendet,  a nullo  fomentum  olei  scirpique  accipiens  : neque  vento 
extinguitur,  neque  casu  dilabitur,  neque  ardendo  minuitur  ; habetque 
incrementum  per  Apostoli  virtutem,  quod  nescitur  ab  homine,  cog- 
nitum  tamen  habetur  divinae  potentiae.  Hoc  Theodorus  qui  ad 
ipsum  locum  accessit,  nobis  exposuit.  In  supra  dicta  igitur  urbe,  in 
qua  beatos  artus  diximus  tumulatos,  adveniente  festivitate,  magnus 
adgregatur  populorum  coetus,  ac  de  diversis  regionibus  cum  votis 
negotiisque  venientes  vendendi,  comparandique  per  triginta  dies  sine 
ulla  thelonii  exactione  licentia  datur.  In  his  vero  diebus  qui  in  mense 
habentur  quinto,  magna  et  inusitata  populis  praebentur  beneficia. 
Non  scandalum  surgit  in  plebe,  non  musca  insedet  mortificatae  carni, 
non  latex  deest  sitienti.  Nam  cum  ibi  reliquiis  diebus  plusquam 
centinum  pedum  altitudine  aqua  hauriatur  a puteis,  nunc  paululum 
fodias,  affatim  lymphas  exuberantes  invenies  : quod  non  ambigitur 
virtute  haec  beati  Apostoli  impertiri.  Decursis  igitur  festivitatis 
diebus,  theloneum  publico  redditur,  musca  quae  defuit  adest,  propin- 
quitas  aquae  dehiscit.  Dehinc  emissa  divinitus  pluvia  ita  omne  atrium 
templi  a sordibus  et  diversis  squaloribus  qui  per  ipsa  solemnia  facti 
sunt,  mundat,  ut  putes  eum  nec  fuisse  calcatum. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


81 


for  benefits  received  by  his  intercession.  While  King 
Alfred  was  defending  the  city  of  London,  besieged  by 
the  heathen  Danes,  he  made  a vow ; but  the  date 
when  this  occurred  is  not  known.1  It  was  in  fulfil- 
ment of  this  vow  that  King  Alfred  sent  an  Embassy 
with  gifts  to  Rome,  and  to  India  to  the  Shrine  of 
the  Apostle  : ‘ The  year  883  [884].  In  this  year 

the  army  went  up  the  Scheldt  to  Cond6,  and  they 
sat  down  one  year.  And  Marinus,  the  Pope,  then 
sent  lignum  Domini  [a  relic  of  the  Cross]  to  King 
Alfred.  And  in  the  same  year  Sighelm  and  Aethal- 
stan  conveyed  to  Rome  the  alms  which  the  king 
had  vowed  [to  send]  thither,  and  also  to  India  to 
Saint  Thomas  and  Saint  Bartholomew,  when  they 
sat  down  against  the  army  at  London  ; and  there, 
God  be  thanked,  their  prayer  was  very  successful,  after 
that  vow.’  2 

It  will  be  as  well  to  see  what  some  of  the  best 
modern  writers  of  English  history  have  to  say  in 
regard  to  this  mission  sent  to  India,  whether  they 
consider  it  an  ascertained  fact  in  history,  or  treat  it 
as  legendary.  Dr.  Lingard,  the  Catholic  historian, 
an  esteemed  authority  {Hist,  of  Engl.,  vol.  i.  chap, 
iv.,  6th  edit.,  London,  1854,  p.  112),  says  of  the  king: 
‘ Often  he  sent  considerable  presents  to  Rome  ; some- 
times to  the  nations  in  the  Mediterranean  and  to 

1 Dr.  R.  Pauli  in  his  Life  of  Alfred  the  Great  (translated  from  the 
German,  London  1893,  pp.  146-148)  says  it  is  uncertain  when  the 
Pagans  were  before  London,  880  or  even  later. 

2 See  The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  according  to  the  several 
Original  Authorities , edited  with  a translation  by  Benjamin  Thorpe, 
London,  1 86 r , vol.  ii.  p.  66.  Vol.  i.  contains  the  Anglo-Saxon  texts, 
seven  in  number,  in  parallel  columns  ; vol.  ii.,  the  translation.  Of  this 
passage  there  are  six  Anglo-Saxon  texts  (vol.  i.  pp.  150-153) ; all  are 
dated  883.  Four  of  the  texts  are  practically  identical,  and  translate 
as  above  ; a fifth  makes  no  mention  of  Sighelm  and  Aethalstan,  and 
ends  at  ‘Bartholomew’;  the  remaining  sixth  omits  everything  after 
‘ sat  one  year.’ 

F 


8 2 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Jerusalem;  on  one  occasion  to  the  Indian  Christians 
at  Meliapour.  Swithelm,  the  bearer  of  the  royal  alms, 
brought  back  to  the  king  several  Oriental  pearls  and 
aromatic  liquors.’  Professor  E.  A.  Freeman,  a dis- 
tinguished Protestant  historian,  has  the  following  ( Old 
Engl.  Hist.,  London,  1869,  p.  131)  : ‘ King  Alfred  was 
very  attentive  to  religious  matters,  and  gave  great  alms 
to  the  poor,  and  gifts  to  the  churches.  . . . He  also 
sent  several  embassies  to  Rome.  . . . He  also  sent  an 
embassy  to  Jerusalem,  and  had  letters  from  Abel  the 
Patriarch  there.  And  what  seems  stranger  than  all, 
he  sent  an  embassy  all  the  way  to  India  with  alms  for 
the  Christians  there,  called  the  Christians  of  Saint 
Thomas  and  Saint  Bartholomew.’  The  writer  of  the 
article  ‘St.  Thomas'  {Diet,  of  Christ.  Antiq.)  has  the 
following  entry  : ‘ In  the  9th  century  Sighelm  and 
Aethalstan  were  sent  by  King  Alfred  with  alms  to 
Rome  and  thence  to  India  to  St.  Thomas  and  St. 
Bartholomew.' 

The  sending  of  this  embassy  with  gifts  is  supported 
by  the  early  Chroniclers  whose  works  have  come 
down  to  us.  The  first  of  these  is  Florence  of  Wor- 
cester, who  died  1117.  In  his  Chronicle  under  the 
year  883  he  says:  ‘Asser,  Bishop  of  Sherborne,  died1 
and  was  succeeded  by  Swithelm,  who  carried  King 
Alfred’s  alms  to  St.  Thomas  in  India  and  returned 

1 Forester  appends  the  following  note:  ‘Asser  did  not  die  till 
910  (see  Saxon  Chronicle),  and  he  continued  his  life  of  Alfred  to  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  that  prince’s  age,  a.d.  893.  Ethelward,  not  Swithelm, 
appears  to  have  been  Asser’s  successor  as  bishop  of  Sherborne.  See 
the  list  of  bishops  at  the  end  of  this  work.’  The  lists  of  bishops  are 
considered  to  be  by  Florence  of  Worcester,  as  they  are  in  all  the  MSS. 
In  the  Sherborne  list  (p.  421)  Asser  is  No.  11,  Ethelward  No.  12, 
and  Sighelm  No.  15  ; no  dates  are  given.  Pauli  wrote  his  Life  of 
A Ifred about  1850;  on  pp.  146-148,  dealing  with  the  mission  of  Sighelm 
and  Aethalstan  to  Rome  and  India,  he  says,  ‘they  were  probably  dis- 
tinguished laymen.  Except  on  one  occasion  (890)  Alfred’s  ambassa- 
dors to  Rome  were  always  laymen,  so  far  as  we  know.’ 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  83 


in  safety.’1  William  of  Malmesbury  in  an  original 
work  writes:  [Alfred]  ‘very  attentive  on  bestowing 
alms,  he  confirmed  the  privileges  granted  to  the 
churches  which  his  father  had  sanctioned.  Beyond 
the  sea,  to  Rome  and  to  Saint  Thomas  in  India  he 
sent  many  gifts.  The  legate  employed  for  this  purpose 
was  Sigelinus  the  bishop  of  Sherborne,  who  with  great 
success  arrived  in  India,  at  which  every  one  at  this 
age  wonders.  Returning  thence  he  brought  back 
exotic  gems  and  aromatic  liquors  which  the  land  there 
produces ; besides  also  a present,  excelling  all  else  in 
value,  a portion  of  the  Lord’s  rood  sent  to  the  King  by 
Pope  Martin.'2  The  Pope’s  name  is  undoubtedly  a 
mistake,  whether  original  or  introduced  by  some  care- 
less amanuensis ; no  Martin  was  Pope  at  the  time,  but 
Marinus,  the  name  correctly  given  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle,  was  then  Pope  ; 3 he  held  the  see  of  Peter 
from  882  to  some  date  in  884.  There  occurs  another 
substantial  difference  between  what  William  says  re- 
garding the  relic  of  the  Cross  sent  by  the  Pope  and 
the  statement  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.  The 

1 See  the  Chronicle  of  Florence  of  Worcester,  translated  by 
Thos.  Forester,  London  1854,  p.  73. 

2 Willebni  Malmesbiriensis,  de  gestis  regum  Anglorum  libri 
quinque,  edition  of  T.  D.  Hardy,  London,  1840,  vol.  i.  p.  187:  [Elfredus] 
Eleemosiniis  intentus  privilegia  ecclesiastica,  sicut  pater  statuerat, 
roboravit ; et  trans  mare  Romam  et  ad  Sanctum  Thomam  in  India, 
multa  munera  misit.  Legatus  in  hoc  missus  Sigelinus  Scireburnensis 
episcopus,  cum  magna  prosperitate,  quod  quivis  hoc  seculo  miretur, 
Indiam  penetravit  ; inde  rediens,  exoticos  splendores  gemmarum  et 
liquores  aromatum,  quorum  ilia  humus  ferax  est,  reportavit.  William 
of  Malmesbury  dedicated  his  history  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
who  died  in  1147.  The  book  itself  is  supposed  to  have  been  written 
between  1114  and  1123,  and  subsequently  much  improved  ; the  author 
died  1 142-1 143. 

3 We  have  since  had  occasion  to  ascertain  that  Pope  Martin, 
elected  in  1281,  though  only  the  second  of  that  name,  took  the  name 
of  Martin  IV.,  as  the  two  Popes  bearing  the  name  of  Marinus  were 
enumerated  in  the  list  of  Popes  under  the  name  of  Martin. 


84  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

latter  says  the  relic  was  sent  the  same  year  and 
seemingly  before  Sighelm  or  Sigelinus  conveyed  the 
king’s  alms  to  Rome,  whereas  William  makes  Sige- 
linus, on  his  return  from  India,  the  bearer  of  the  relic 
to  the  king.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  should  undoubtedly 
carry  the  greater  weight ; it  is,  besides,  a contemporary 
document. 

j 

J III. — Visited  by  Marco  Polo,  a.d.  1293 

The  honour  of  the  third  visit  to  the  tomb,  memory 
of  which  has  come  down  to  us,  is  somewhat  contested 
between  Marco  Polo,  the  great  Venetian  traveller,  and 
Friar  John  of  Monte  Corvino,  both  Italians.  The  visit 
of  Polo  on  his  return  from  China  described  in  his 
narrative  falls  in  1293, 1 and  that  of  the  future  Arch- 
bishop of  Pekin  (Cambalec)  probably  between  1292- 
1293  ; in  other  words,  the  travellers  crossed  each  other's 
path  somewhere  on  the  route  between  India  and  China. 
But  as  there  is  good  reason  to  hold,  as  will  presently  be 
seen,  that  the  Venetian  had  paid  India  an  earlier  visit, 
precedence  is  given  to  him. 

Colonel  Yule’s  monumental  edition  of  Marco  Polo’s 
Book  of  Travels  will  supply  all  we  want,  and  we  shall 
also  find  Yule  a most  useful  guide  in  dealing  subse- 
quently with  the  recorded  visits  of  other  travellers  to 
the  Shrine. 

‘The  Body  of  Messer  Saint  Thomas  the  Apostle,’ 
he  says  (vol.  ii.  chap,  xviii.  p.  338),  ‘ lies  in  this  province 
of  Maabar  at  a certain  little  town  having  no  great 
population  ; ’tis  a place  where  few  traders  go,  because 

1 Colonel  Yule  ( The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  2nd  edition,  London, 
1875,  vol.  i.,  Introduction,  p.  22)  says  in  the  text  that  the  party  sailed 
from  the  port  of  Zayton  (Southern  China)  in  the  beginning  of  1292  ; 
according  to  Persian  history,  as  given  in  the  note,  the  Princess 
Kokachin  and  party  arrived  in  the  north  of  Persia  in  the  winter  of 
1293-1294  ; that  would  fix  the  date  of  their  passage  through  Southern 
India  c.  1293. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  85 

there  is  very  little  merchandise  to  be  got  there,  and 
it  is  a place  not  very  accessible.  Both  Christians  and 
Saracens,  however,  greatly  frequent  it  in  pilgrimage. 
For  the  Saracens  also  do  hold  the  Saint  in  great  rever- 
ence, and  say  that  he  was  one  of  their  own  Saracens 
and  a great  prophet,  giving  him  the  title  of  Avarian, 
which  is  as  much  to  say  “ Holy  Man.”  The  Christians 
who  go  thither  in  pilgrimage  take  of  the  earth  from 
the  place  where  the  Saint  was  killed,  and  give  a por- 
tion thereof  to  any  one  who  is  sick  of  a quartan  or 
a tertian  fever  ; and  by  the  power  of  God  and  of  Saint 
Thomas  the  sick  man  is  incontinently  cured.  The  earth 
I should  tell  you  is  red.  A very  fine  miracle  occurred 
there  in  the  year  of  Christ,  1288,  as  I will  now  relate.' 
His  earlier  visit  to  India,  of  which  mention  is  made 
above,  probably  occurred  about  that  year. 1 ‘ The 

1 Yule  (ibid.,  p.  21),  giving  the  personal  history  of  Marco  Polo, 
says:  ‘At  one  time  we  know  that  he  held  for  three  years  the 
government  of  the  great  city  of  Yangchou,  &c.  ; on  another  occasion 
we  find  him  with  his  uncle  Maffeo  passing  a year  at  Kanchau  in 
Tangut  ; again,  it  would  appear,  visiting  Kara  Korum,  the  old 
capital  of  the  Kaans  in  Mongolia  ; on  another  occasion  in  Champa, 
or  Southern  Cochin  China  ; and  again,  or  perhaps  as  part  of  the 
last  expedition,  on  a mission  to  the  Indian  Seas,  when  he  appears 
to  have  visited  several  of  the  southern  states  of  India.’  The  party, 
with  the  Princess,  left  China  in  1292  ; the  occurrence  mentioned 
above  in  the  text  is  definitely  fixed  by  Marco  Polo  at  1288,  of  which 
he  seems  to  have  personal  knowledge  of  some  sort ; hence  it  is 
about  that  year  the  earlier  visit  to  India  may  be  placed.  Polo 
probably  did  not  visit  Mylapore  when  travelling  in  the  suite 
of  the  Princess,  but  must  have  seen  the  place  on  some  previous 
occasion.  The  whole  tenor  of  what  he  writes  and  the  minute  details 
given  imply  it.  These  details  are  such  as  to  bespeak  personal 
knowledge:  ‘the  body  lies  at  a certain  little  town  having  no  great 
population’;  ‘it  is  a place  not  very  accessible’;  the  mention  of  the 
practice  of  ‘taking  of  the  earth,’  and  the  important  detail,  ‘the 
earth,  I should  tell  you,  is  red,’  an  observation  that  would  not  occur 
to  one  who  had  not  visited  the  locality.  Then  again  his  statement, 
‘a  very  fine  miracle  occurred  there  in  the  year  of  Christ  1288,  as  I 
will  now  relate,’  the  emphatic  manner  in  fixing  the  date,  and  the 
interest  he  takes  in  narrating  what  occurred,  still  further  prove  a 
personal  acquaintance  with  these  facts. 


86  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Christians,'  he  resumes  a little  further  on,  ‘ who  have 
charge  of  the  Church  have  a great  number  of  the 
Indian  nut  trees  whereby  they  get  their  living;  and 
they  pay  to  one  of  those  brother  Kings  six  groats  for 
each  tree  every  month.’ 1 

In  this  narrative  though  the  Shrine  is  located,  the 
church  kept  by  the  Christians  mentioned,  the  pilgrimage 
of  Christians  and  Saracens  not  overlooked,  and  the 
province  called  by  its  Mahomedan  appellation,  the 
name  of  the  'little  town,’  however,  is  omitted.  Never- 
theless no  reasonable  person  will  refuse  credence 
to  the  statement  that  the  little  town  where  the  body 
lay  was  Mylapore,  subsequently  named  San  Thome  by 
the  Portuguese,  now  a suburb,  lying  to  the  south,  of 
the  city  of  Madras.  Similarly  in  the  preceding  narrative 
of  Theodore,  which  has  come  down  to  us  through 
St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  mention  is  made  of  a place,  and 
India  is  indicated,  ‘in  loco  regionis  Indiae  quo  prius 
quievit.’  A church  enclosing  the  Shrine,  and  pilgrims 
flocking  to  it  are  similarly  mentioned.  Theodore  also 
takes  note  of  a monastery  then  existing ; of  this  Marco 
Polo  says  nothing,  so  it  may  then  have  been  destroyed 
" to  be  rebuilt  at  a later  age.  Polo  speaks  of  the  body 
being  there ; St.  Gregory  with  greater  accuracy  had 
recorded  ' in  that  part  of  India  where  it  first  rested,’ 
and  'after  a long  interval  of  time  was  removed  to  the 
city  of  Edessa.'  The  omission  of  any  mention  of  the 
province  is  easily  accounted  for  in  the  story  narrated 
by  a pilgrim  traveller,  who  was  not  in  the  habit  of 
taking  geographical  notes,  but  such  an  omission  would 
not  occur  in  the  Venetian’s  account.  If,  then,  the  state- 


1 In  Native  States  in  Southern  India  the  tax  on  cocoanut  and 
other  fruit  trees  is  fixed  at  so  much  per  tree  per  annum  according 
to  age  and  yield  ; and  valuation  of  groves  is  based  on  the  same  data  ; 
these  are  ancestral  usages.  The  text  here  appears  faulty  ; we  should 
substitute  1 year’  for  month. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  87 


ment  of  Marco  Polo  carries  conviction  with  it,  by 
what  criterion  of  historical  criticism  can  the  intelligent 
reader  refuse  it  to  the  narrative  of  the  pilgrim  Theodore, 
who,  seven  hundred  years  earlier,  had  visited  the  tomb 
of  the  Apostle  in  India,  and  described  it  in  similar 
terms  ? 

As  this  chapter  deals  with  the  Shrine  and  its  sur- 
roundings, we  reserve  for  treatment  elsewhere  what 
Polo  reports  of  indigenous  traditions  regarding  the 
Saint’s  martyrdom. 

IV. — Visited  by  Friar  John  of  Monte  Corvino, 
a.d.  1292-1293 

John  of  Monte  Corvino,  a Franciscan  Friar,  is  justly 
called  the  founder  of  the  First  Catholic  Mission  in 
China.  He  had  been  engaged  for  many  years  in  mis- 
sion work  prior  to  being  sent  out  to  China.1  From 
mention  made  of  his  age  in  the  first  of  his  three  letters 
published  by  Colonel  Yule  ( Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither , 
Hakluyt  Society,  London,  1866,  vol.  i.),  it  is  inferred  he 
was  born  c.  1247,  but  it  is  not  known  in  what  year  he 

1 M.  Henri  Cordier,  whom  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at 
Paris,  and  of  discussing  with  him  the  date  of  Friar  John’s  visit  to 
China,  told  us  he  held  to  the  view  he  had  expressed  in  a previous 
work,  that  the  year  could  not  be  definitely  fixed.  We  here  repro- 
duce the  opinion  expressed  by  this  learned  Chinese  scholar  in  his 
edition  of  Oderic  de  Pordenone , Paris,  1891,  Introduction,  p.  xviii.  : 
‘We  learn  from  a letter  of  Monte  Corvino,  dated  from  that  city 
(Khan-baliq)  in  1305,  that  he  had  been  alone  in  China  for  eleven 
years  ; and  that  two  years  before  that  letter  a lay-brother  named 
Arnold  of  Cologne  had  come  and  joined  him  : he  would  thus  have 
arrived  in  China  in  1292  ; that  is  to  say,  during  the  lifetime  of 
Kubilai.’  ‘These  figures,’  M.  Cordier  observes,  ‘do  not  quite  agree 
with  the  rest  of  his  letter;  for  he  tells  us  that  he  had  left  Tauris  in 
1291,  that  he  stayed  thirteen  months  in  India  at  the  church  of  Saint 
Thomas  (Mylapore),  where  he  lost  his  travelling  companion,  the 
Dominican,  Nicholas  of  Pistoia.’  We  would  suggest  the  date  of 
arrival  as  being  between  1292  and  1293;  it  might  even  have  been 
the  beginning  of  1294  when  he  entered  China. 


88  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


entered  on  his  missionary  labours.  The  earliest  mention 
of  him  dates  from  the  year  1272,  when  he  was  sent  by 
the  Emperor  Michael  Palaeologus  on  a mission  to 
Pope  Gregory  X.,  who  reigned  1271-1276.  John  soon 
returned  to  the  East  with  several  companions,  and  re- 
mained there  till  1289.  Once  more  he  returned  to  the 
Papal  court  with  glad  tidings  of  the  desire  of  the  peoples 
in  Armenia  and  Northern  Persia  to  receive  the  faith,  of 
extensive  conversions,  and  of  the  favourable  disposition 
of  Arghun,1  the  reigning  Khan  of  the  House  of  Hulagu 
(reigned  1284-1291).  The  Pope  rejoiced  at  the  good 
news,  and  sent  him  back  ; this  was  his  fourth  trip,  at  the 
head  of  a second  band  of  helpers.  Gregory  X.  at  the 
same  time  entrusted  him  with  letters  to  Prince  Arghun, 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Lesser  Armenia,  and,  among 
others,  also  to  the  great  Khan  Kublai,  reigning  in  China. 
‘John  remained  at  Tabriz,’  says  Yule,  ibid.,  p.  166,  ‘till 
1291,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  Far  East  in  order  to 
fulfil  his  mission  to  Kublai,  travelling  by  the  way  of 
India.  It  is  not  likely  that  he  reached  Cambalec  in  the 
lifetime  of  the  old  Khan,  who  died  in  the  beginning  of 
1294,  for  voyages  were  slow,  and  he  stayed  long  at  St. 
Thomas  and  other  places  on  the  coast  of  Malabar  or 
Coromandel.’  He  was  created  Archbishop  of  Cam- 
balec in  1307  with  the  full  powers  of  a Patriarch,  and 
seven  suffragan  sees  were  created  to  be  placed  under 
him,  for  which  seven  friars  of  his  Order  were  sent  out 

1 This  is  the  Prince,  the  Khan  of  Persia  and  Kublai’s  grand- 
nephew, who  in  1286  lost  his  favourite  wife,  the  Khatun  Bulughan, 
who  left  him  her  dying  injunction  ‘that  her  place  should  be  filled 
only  by  a lady  of  her  own  kin.’  Hence  ambassadors  were  sent  to 
the  court  of  Kaanbaligh  (the  Cambalec  of  our  Italian  travellers)  to 
seek  such  a bride.  ‘ The  message  was  courteously  received,  and  the 
choice  fell  on  Lady  Kokachin,  a maiden  of  seventeen  moult  bele  dame 
et  avenant,'  as  Marco  says  ; in  whose  suite,  on  her  way  to  meet 
Prince  Arghun,  Marco  and  his  uncles  left  China  (Yule’s  Marco 
Polo , vol.  i.,  Introduction,  p.  21). 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA  89 


consecrated  bishops  from  Rome.  Of  this  large  body 
of  bishops  only  three  reached  their  destination,  three 
others  succumbed  on  their  journey  to  the  effects  of  the 
Indian  climate,  while  the  seventh  either  did  not  start  or 
returned  after  going  a part  of  the  way,  and  sixteen  years 
later  was  the  occupant  of  a see  in  Corsica,  but  died 
Bishop  of  Trieste. 

‘ I,  John  of  Monte  Corvino  (he  writes  in  his  first 
letter,  ibid.,  p.  197),  from  the  city  of  Cambalec  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Cathay,  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1305,  and 
on  the  8th  day  of  January,  of  the  Order  of  Minor  Friars, 
departed  from  Tauris,  a city  of  the  Persians,  in  the  year 
of  the  Lord  1291,  and  proceeded  to  India.  And  I re- 
mained in  the  country  of  India,  wherein  stands  the 
Church  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  for  thirteen  months, 
and  in  that  region  baptised  in  different  places  about  one 
hundred  persons.  The  companion  of  my  journey  was 
Friar  Nicholas  of  Pistoia,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers, 
who  died  there,  and  was  buried  in  the  church 
aforesaid.’ 

In  his  second  letter,  also  ‘dated  from  Cambalec  a 
city  of  Cathay,’  and  in  the  ‘year  1306,  on  Quinqua- 
gesima  Sunday  in  the  month  of  February,'  he  gives  the 
heads  of  his  first  letter,  which  show  that  it  has  come 
down  to  us  entire.  The  second,  however,  did  not  fare 
as  well  ; it  got  separated  into  two  sections  ; of  these 
the  latter  was  lost,  but  the  substance  incorporated  by 
Wadding  in  his  Annales  Minorum,  tom.  vi.  pp.  71-72, 
has  been  preserved.  Yule  shows  that  the  two  sections 
form  one  complete  letter.  The  date  given  above,  1306, 
is  borne  by  the  once  lost  section  ; the  other  bears  no 
date,  but  the  two  fit  in  aptly  as  to  time.  The  letter 
contains  only  a short  paragraph  referring  to  India  in  the 
first  section,  but  not  bearing  on  our  subject ; the  second 
portion  will  be  quoted  in  Chapter  V.  The  third  letter, 
which  is  actually  the  first  in  date  and  written  from  India, 


90  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


it  is  unnecessary  to  quote.1  Archbishop  John,  aged 
upwards  of  eighty  years,  died  at  Cambalec  in  1328. 2 

V. — Mentioned  by  Blessed  Oderic, 
a.d.  1324-1325 

Blessed  Oderic  of  Pordenone  in  the  district  of 
Friuli,  Italy,  was  born  1286  (see  Yule’s  Cathay,  vol.  i. 
pp.  4 and  6) ; at  an  early  age  he  took  the  vows  of 
a Franciscan,  and  acquired  a reputation  for  holiness 
of  life.  From  a statement  he  makes  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  book  it  is  inferred  that  he  left  his  convent 
for  foreign  missions  in  the  year  1315-1316,  being 

1 This  letter  was  sent  from  the  Coromandel  coast  by  a bearer, 
no  doubt  a European  and  probably  an  Italian  traveller  who  met 
John  and  his  companion  Nicholas  at  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle,  and  in 
whose  arms  the  latter  is  said  to  have  expired  (see  Friar  Menentillus’ 
covering  letter,  Cathay,  vol.  ii.  p.  210).  As  no  mention  of  this 
death  occurs  in  this  letter,  and  as  it  seems  to  be  entire,  it  may  have 
been  written  prior  to  the  occurrence  : it  is  therefore  legitimate  to 
infer  that  another  letter,  which  has  not  come  down  to  us,  must  have 
contained  the  announcement  of  his  companion’s  death.  Besides 
this  homeward-bound  traveller,  John  mentions  in  his  second  letter  a 
‘ gentleman  of  Lucolongo,  a faithful  Christian  man  and  great 
merchant,’  who  was  the  companion  of  his  journey  from  Tauris,  who 
‘ bought  the  ground  for  an  establishment,  and  gave  it  to  him  for  the 
love  of  God,’  whereon  he  built  a church  separated  only  by  a street 
from  the  great  Khan’s  palace.  All  this  goes  to  show  that,  during  the 
thirteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  intercourse 
between  India  and  even  China  and  Europe  was  not  of  such  rare 
occurrence  as  people  are  sometimes  led  to  suppose  ; and  that 
besides  the  Polo  family,  a not  inconsiderable  number  of  Europeans 
journeyed  to  and  fro  between  Europe  and  the  Far  East,  though 
their  letters  and  correspondence  are  only  forthcoming  in  a few 
cases.  See  Angelo  De  Gubernatis  : Storia  dei  Viaggiatori  Italiani 
mile  Indie  Orientali,  Livorno,  1875  ; also  his  earlier  Memoria 
intorno  ai  Viaggiatori  Italiani  nelle  Indie  Orientali  dal  Secolo  XIII. 
al  XVI.,  Firenze,  1867. 

2 This  date  is  obtained  from  the  letter  of  the  Christian  princes 
at  the  great  Khan’s  court  addressed  to  the  Pope,  asking  for  a 
successor  to  their  late  lamented  archbishop,  whom  they  describe  as 
‘ a man  of  weighty,  capable,  and  holy  character.’  See  their  letter, 
dated  about  July  1336,  in  Yule’s  Cathay , vol.  ii.  p.  314. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


91 


then  thirty  years  of  age.  After  spending  some  years 
as  a missionary  in  Armenia  and  Persia,  he  landed  at 
Tana, 1 to  recover  the  bones  of  the  four  brethren  of  his 
Order  who  had  suffered  martyrdom  there  in  the  spring 
of  1321. 2 This  removal  which,  with  even  the  heavy 

1 From  the  island  of  Ormuz  he  passes  to  Tana  in  twenty-eight 
days  (Yule’s  Cathay , vol.  i.  p.  57),  where  the  four  friars  had  suffered 
martyrdom.  ‘The  land  (of  Tana)  is  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Saracens,  who  have  taken  it  by  force  of  arms,  and  they  are  now 
subject  to  the  Empire  of  Dile’  (Delhi),  ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  58.  The  Kiji 
kings  of  Delhi  overran  the  West  Coast  and  the  Deccan  in  the  early 
years  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  these  were  more  or  less  subject 
to  that  empire  at  this  period.  The  Sultan  of  Delhi  at  the  time  must 
have  been  Gheiass-Uddin  Toghlak,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1320 
according  to  the  best  chronology  (Yule). 

2 The  Holy  See  sanctioned  the  cultus  of  the  Martyrs  of  Tana 
by  a decree  of  July  10,  1894;  by  another,  of  August  14,  1894,  the 
Congregation  of  Rites  granted  the  recital  of  an  approved  Office  and 
Mass  for  the  feast  of  Blessed  Thomas  of  Tolentino.  The  addition 
authorised  for  insertion  in  the  Martyrologium  Romano-Seraphicum 
Sanctorum  et  Beatorum  trium  Ordinum  S.  P.  N.  Francisci  is  the 
following  : — 

Aprili  6. — Tanae  in  India  beati  Thomae  a Tolentino  Ordinis 
Minorum,  qui  cum  tribus  sociis  ejusdem  ordinis  glorioso  pro  fide 
Christi  martyrio  coronatus  est. 

From  the  Lesson  of  the  Breviary,  which  we  subjoin,  the  date  on 
which  the  martyrdom  took  place  was  the  2nd  of  April  1321  : — 

Ayton  rex  Armenorum  sacerdotes  aliquot  a Ministro  General 
Ordinis  Minorum  expostulavit,  qui  in  ipsius  regno  catholicam  re- 
ligionem  propagarent  ac  tuerentur.  Thomas  igitur  quatuor  addictis 
sodalibus,  illuc  est  missus  ; exceptique  a populo  summa  veneratione 
innumeros  schismaticos  ad  Ecclesiae  unitatem  reduxerunt,  et  in- 
fidelibus  quamplurimis  persuasere  ut  Christiana  dogmata  profiterentur. 
Accidit  autem  ut  Ayton  ab  armis  Saracenorum  premeretur  ; quamob- 
rem  Thomas  cum  binis  sociis  ad  Nicolaum  quartum  Romanum 
Pontificem  et  ad  reges  Gallorum  et  Angliae  ab  eo  legatus  auxilia 
petiturus  venit  ; qua  legatione  perfunctus  in  Armeniam  reversus  est, 
abductis  secum  duodecim  religiosis  viris  ex  eodem  Franciscalium 
ordine  in  aeternam  earum  gentium  utilitatem.  In  Persiam  trans- 
gressus,  inde  iterum  a sodalibus  suis  in  Europam  mittitur  docturus 
Pontificem  de  christianae  religionis  provectu  in  Tartarorum  imperio. 
Erat  is  Clemens  eo  nomine  quintus  ; qui  Thomae  nuntiis  usque  adeo 
delectatus  est,  ut  Joannem  a Monte  Corvine  illic  strenue  operantem, 
Archiepiscopum  Cambalicensem  primumque  Sedis  Apostolicae  Le- 


92  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


monsoon  rains  in  India,  would  have  to  be  placed  at 
least  two  years  after  the  burial,  could  only  have  been 
effected  c.  1323.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Quilon,  which 
he  calls  Palumbum.  There  he  took  passage  on  board  a 
ship — a junk — to  a ‘ certain  city  called  Zayton,  in  which 
our  Friars  have  two  houses,  in  order  there  to  deposit 
these  sacred  relics.  On  board  that  ship  there  were  quite 
700  souls,  what  with  sailors  and  merchants.’  This 
shows  he  took  passage  on  board  a Chinese  junk  he 
found  at  Quilon  homeward-bound.  After  discussing 
Malabar,  which  he  calls  ‘ Minibar’  : ‘ From  this  realm,’ 
he  continues,  p.  80,  ‘’tis  a journey  of  ten  days  to  another 
realm  which  is  called  Mobar,  and  this  is  very  great,  and 
hath  in  it  many  cities  and  towns.  And  in  this  realm  is 
laid  the  body  of  the  Blessed  Thomas  the  Apostle.  His 
church  is  filled  with  idols,  and  beside  it  are  some  fifteen 
houses  of  the  Nestorians ; that  is  to  say,  Christians,  but 
vile  and  pestilent  heretics.' 1 

gatum  apud  Orientalium  gentes  creaverit  eique  Franciscales  septenos 
addiderit  suffraganeos  Episcopos,  quibus  ecclesiastica  hierarchia  con- 
stitueretur.  Thomas  his  feliciter  gestis  in  Orientem  tertio  redit. 
Dum  vero  novam  apud  Tartaros  et  Indos  expeditionem  cogitans 
Colam  contendit,  adversa  navigatione  Tanam  deducitur,  ubi  gloriosum 
cum  tribus  suis  sociis  martyrium  fecit.  Nam  a Saracenis  compre- 
hensus  ac  de  religione  multa  interrogatus,  fidei  catholicae  veritatem 
praedicans,  Mahumetis  falsitatem  libero  sermone  corripuit.  Vinculis 
propterea,  conviciis  ac  verberibus  affectus,  turn  soli  ardentissimo  diu 
objectus,  denique  quarto  nonas  Aprilis  millesimi  trecentesimi  vigesimi 
primi  truncate  capite  vitam  finivit.  Eius  sacrum  corpus  a beato 
Oderico  in  templum  Fratrum  Minorum  civitatis  Zaitonensis  elatum 
est ; abscissum  vero  caput  Tolentinum  delatum,  magna  ibidem  pietate 
colitur.  Cultum  autem  beato  Thomae  ab  immemorabili  tempore 
praestitum  Leo  decimus  tertius  Pontifex  Maximus  ex  Sacrorum 
Rituum  Congregationis  consulto  ratum  habuit  et  confirmavit. 

1 Blessed  Oderic  went  on  to  China  with  his  treasure  and  landed 
at  Zayton  : he  stayed  three  years  with  Archbishop  John  of  Cambalec, 
and  returned  home,  Yule  says,  via  Tibet  through  Lhassa,  Khoras- 
san,  and  by  the  south  of  the  Caspian  to  Tabriz  and  thence  to  Venice. 
In  the  month  of  May  1330,  while  attached  to  the  Convent  of  St. 
Anthony  of  Padua,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  Friar  Guidotto, 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


93 


VI. — Visited  by  Bishop  John  de  Marignolli, 
a.d.  1349 

The  history  of  Bishop  John's  narrative  is  quite  roman- 
tic. ‘The  notices  of  Eastern  travel,’  says  Yule  (Cathay, 
vol.  ii.  p.  31 1),  ‘are  found  like  unexpected  fossils  in  a 
mud-bank  imbedded  in  a Chronicle  of  Bohemia,’  which 
the  bishop — then  attached  to  the  court  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  IV.  at  Prague,  whom  he  had  met  in  Italy  when 
Charles  went  to  be  crowned  by  the  Pope  in  1354,  and 
whom  he  accompanied  to  Germany  — wrote  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  said  Emperor.  ‘ Charles,’  the  English  editor 
remarks,  ‘ would  have  shown  a great  deal  more  sense  if 
he  had  directed  his  chaplain  to  write  a detailed  narrative 
of  his  own  Eastern  experiences.’  The  task  imposed  on 
the  bishop  appears  to  have  been  most  uncongenial  to 
him,  so  to  relieve  himself  somewhat  of  its  tediousness, 
he  interpolates  his  work  by  inserting  in  odd  places  scraps 
of  his  travels. 

Some  slight  details  regarding  John  of  Florence  are 
found  in  Wadding’s  Annales  Minorum , and  but  for  the 
above  discovery  the  identity  of  the  two  Johns  would 
have  remained  undetected.  John  was  a native  of  Flor- 
ence, and  belonged  to  the  noble  family  of  the  Marignolli 
of  San  Lorenzo,  who  derived  their  name  from  a village 
named  Marignolle  in  the  valley  of  the  Arno.  In  1338, 
after  the  death  of  Archbishop  John  of  Cambalec,  there 
arrived  at  Avignon  an  embassy  from  the  great  Khan  of 
Cathay,  bringing  a letter  from  the  Khan  himself  and 
another  from  the  Christian  princes  at  his  court  to  the 

the  minister  of  the  Province,  he  related  his  story,  which  was  taken 
down,  or  turned  into  homely  Latin,  by  William  of  Solagna  of  his 
Order.  On  his  way  to  the  Papal  court  at  Avignon  he  fell  sick 
and  was  taken  back  to  his  province  of  Udine,  where  he  died  on  the 
14th  of  January  1331.  He  was  abroad  fourteen  and  a half  years. 
The  decree  of  his  beatification  was  issued  by  Clement  XIII.  in  1755. 


94  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

Pope.  The  embassy  was  graciously  received  by  Pope 
Benedict  XII.,  who  reigned  1334-1342;  replies  to  the 
letters  were  duly  sent  by  the  Khan's  messengers,  and 
the  Pope  expressed  his  intention  of  speedily  sending 
envoys  to  the  Court.  On  31st  October  1338  he  nomi- 
nated the  four  following  envoys  : Nicholas  Boneti, 
Nicholas  of  Molano,  John  of  Florence,  and  Gregory 
of  Hungary.  The  first,  Yule  says,  either  never  started 
or  returned  after  going  part  of  the  way,  and  is  found 
in  1347  as  bishop  of  Malta.  The  party  left  Avignon  in 
December  1338,  and  journeying  across  Asia  did  not 
probably  arrive  at  Pekin  much  before  the  middle  of 
1342.  After  a stay  of  three  or  four  years  at  the  capital, 
Marignolli  proceeded  to  the  houses  of  his  Order  at 
Zayton,  and  thence  sailed  for  India  on  the  26th  of 
December  (probably)  1347.  He  mentions  his  arrival 
at  Columbum  (Quilon)  just  before  the  following  Easter, 
where  he  tarried  with  the  Christians  for  upwards  of  a 
year;  during  the  monsoon  of  1349  he  set  sail  to  visit 
the  Shrine  of  the  Apostle. 

He  says  of  the  Shrine  (p.  374) : ‘ The  third  province 
of  India  is  called  Maabar,  and  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas, 
which  he  built  with  his  own  hands,  is  there,  besides 
another  which  he  built  by  the  agency  of  workmen.' 
Regarding  a local  tradition  of  the  Apostle’s  presence  on 
the  island  of  Ceylon,  he  reports  the  Saint  ordering  the 
trunk  of  a tree  that  had  been  cut  down  on  the  island  : 
‘Go  and  tarry  for  us  at  the  haven  of  the  city  of  Mira- 
polis’  ; which,  as  Yule  observes,  is  a Graecized  form 
of  the  name  of  Mylapore.  The  local  traditions  of  the 
Apostle’s  martyrdom  and  others,  which  he  relates,  will 
be  noticed  in  Chapter  IV. 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


95 


VII. — Visited  by  Nicol6  de’  Conti, 
a.d.  1425-1430 

Nicolo  de’  Conti  left  Italy  while  young,  traded  at 
Damascus  for  many  years  as  a merchant,  thence  pro- 
ceeded further  east  through  Persia,  sailing  by  the  coast  of 
Malabar  onwards  ; he  visited  some  parts  of  the  interior 
of  Hindustan,  Burmah,  and  Bengal  ; also  the  islands  of 
Ceylon,  Sumatra,  and  Java  ; and  also  went  to  Southern 
China.  On  his  way  homeward  he  sailed  up  the  Red 
Sea,  crossed  the  desert  to  Cairo,  and  eventually  returned 
to  Venice  after  an  absence  of  twenty-five  years.  Of 
his  visit  to  Mylapore,  after  rounding  the  peninsula, 
he  says:  ‘Proceeding  onwards  the  said  Nicolo  arrived 
at  a maritime  city,  which  is  named  Malepur  [should 
be  Malpuria],  situated  in  the  second  gulf  beyond  the 
Indus  (the  Bay  of  Bengal).  Here  the  body  of  Saint 
Thomas  lies  honourably  buried  in  a large  and  beautiful 
church  ; it  is  worshipped  [venerated]  by  heretics,  who 
are  called  Nestorians,  and  inhabit  this  city  to  the  number 
of  a thousand.  These  Nestorians  are  scattered  over  all 
India,  as  the  Jews  among  us.’1 

On  his  return  to  Italy,  Conti  sought  absolution  from 
Pope  Eugenius  IV.,  then  at  Florence,  for  having  denied 

1 The  quotation  given  above  is  from  R.  H.  Major’s  India  in  the 
Fifteenth  Century,  Hakluyt  Society,  London,  1857,  p.  7 of  text. 
While  at  Paris  we  were  able  to  see,  through  M.  CordiePs  kindness, 
the  primitive  Latin  text  published  long  after  the  narrative  had  been 
taken  down  in  writing  by  Poggio.  It  is  to  be  found  in  Poggii  Brae - 
ciolani , Historiae  de  varietate  fortunae , libri  quatuor,  published  at 
Paris,  1723,  by  one  ‘Joanne  Oliva  (Rhodigiano)’ ; the  travels  form 
the  fourth  book  of  the  ‘Historiae,’  and  occupy  pp.  126-153,  but  bear 
no  separate  heading  to  indicate  what  they  are.  We  reproduce  the 
text  of  the  passage  above  quoted  from  the  Latin  original,  p.  129  : — 

Malpuria  deinde  maritima  civitas  in  secundo  sinu  ultra  Indiam 
sita,  Nicolaum  excepit.  Hie  corpus  Sancti  Thomae  honorifice  sepul- 
tum  est  in  amplissima,  ornatissimaque  basilica,  colitur  a haereticis. 
Hi  Nestoritae  appellantur  qui  ad  mille  hominum  in  ea  urbe  habitant  : 
hi  per  omnem  Indiam  tanquam  Iudaei  inter  nos  sunt  dispersi. 


96  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

his  faith  during  his  travels  in  the  East.  The  Pope  im- 
posed on  him  as  penance  to  dictate  an  account  of  his 
travels.  The  Pope’s  secretary,  Poggio,  took  down  the 
narrative  in  Latin,  but  this  remained  unpublished  at  the 
time,  while  an  Italian  translation  was  put  in  circulation. 
M.  Henri  Cordier  informed  us  that  the  interview  between 
Pope  Eugenius  and  Conti  at  Florence  took  place  in  the 
year  1438,  which  was  the  only  time  the  Pope  was  there. 
It  is  from  this  date  that  Conti’s  return  to  Italy  can  be 
fixed.  Supposing  Conti  had  returned  two  or  three 
years  earlier,  we  come  to  1435,  and  his  evidence  bearing 
on  the  Shrine  at  Mylapore  might  be  of  a date  even  ten 
years  earlier  ; thus  we  come  to  c.  1425  : it  will  not  be 
unsafe  to  fix  the  date  somewhere  between  1425-1430. 

VIII. — What  Amr’,  son  of  Matthew,  says, 

A.D.  1340 

Amr',  son  of  Matthew,  a Nestorian  writer,  who 
flourished  about  1340  (Assemani,  Bibl.  Oriental.,  tom.  iii. 
p.  580),  hands  down  the  Nestorian  tradition  {ibid.,  tom. 
iv.  p.  34)  regarding  Saint  Thomas  in  India:  ‘His  tomb 
stands  on  the  peninsula  Meilan  in  India,  to  the  right  of 
the  altar  in  the  monastery  bearing  his  name.’  The 
topographical  details  would  denote  information  brought 
back  by  a pilgrim  or  merchant  who  had  seen  the  place. 
Correctly  enough,  mention  is  not  made  of  the  body,  but 
only  of  the  tomb  ; the  church  is  implied  while  the  altar 
and  monastery  are  mentioned  ; the  position  is  fixed  on 
the  seaboard ; and  a corrupt  form  of  the  name  of 
Mylapore  is  given. 

IX. — What  the  Nestorian  Bishops  say,  a.d.  1504 

The  letter  written  in  1504  from  the  Malabar  coast 
to  the  Catholicus  of  the  East,  the  head  of  the  Nes- 
torian Church,  by  the  four  Nestorian  bishops,  who  had 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


97 


recently  arrived  there,  brings  the  record  of  the  Indian 
Shrine  of  the  Apostle  down  to  the  arrival  of  the 
Portuguese  in  India.  After  describing  the  religious 
activity  awakened  by  their  coming,  they  say  (Assemani, 
Bibl.  Oriental.,  tom.  iii.  p.  594  f.)  : ‘ The  houses  as  well 
of  Saint  Thomas  the  Apostle  have  commenced  to  be 
occupied  by  some  Christians  who  are  looking  after  the 
repairs  ; they  are  situated  at  a distance  from  our  afore- 
said Christians  (of  Malabar)  of  about  twenty-five  days,1 
and  stand  in  a city  on  the  sea  named  Meliapor,  in  the 
province  of  Silan,  which  is  one  of  the  provinces  of 
India.'  It  should  cause  no  surprise  to  find  the  new 
arrivals  mixing  up  Ceylon  and  India,  and  locating 
Mylapore  in  the  former.  The  Shrine  would  seem  to 
have  fallen  sadly  into  neglect  during  the  lapse  of  the 
preceding  half  century  between  the  visit  of  Nicolo  de’ 
Conti  and  this  account  sent  to  Bagdad.  An  express 
mention  of  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle  on  the  site  of 
the  ‘houses  of  Saint  Thomas  ’ was  not  necessary,  as  its 
existence  was  too  well  known  to  require  any  ; and,  for 
all  we  know,  the  expression  may  be  meant  to  cover  all 
the  buildings  there — so  the  bishops  confine  themselves 
to  writing  of  their  restoration,  which  would  ensure  the 
return  of  a resident  native  colony  of  caretakers. 

This  letter  mentions  also  the  arrival  of  the  Portu- 
guese on  the  coast ; we  reproduce  the  passage  : ‘ Our 
Fathers  should  also  know  that  powerful  ships  have  been 
sent  out  from  the  West  by  our  brethren  the  Franks  to 

1 The  length  of  the  journey  from  Malabar  to  Mylapore,  fixed  at 
twenty-five  days,  denotes  the  time  it  took  travellers  on  foot  to  go  across 
the  hills  from  Malabar  to  the  Coromandel  coast.  Indians  did  not  make 
the  journey  by  sea  owing  to  danger,  delays,  and  cost  ; and  up  to  recent 
years  the  pilgrimage  to  Saint  Thomas’s  Shrine  used  to  be  made  on 
foot  by  the  Saint  Thomas  Christians.  But  on  the  extension  of  railways 
they  may  also,  like  their  fellow-pilgrims  in  Europe,  journey  by  rail  in 
future.  See  Paulinus  k Sto.  Bartholomeo,  India  Oriental.,  pp.  240- 
241,  on  land  journeys  in  India. 

G 


98  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

these  Indian  shores.  The  voyage  occupies  a whole 
year  ; sailing  first  due  south  they  pass  the  land  of  Khus, 
that  is  Aethiopia ; thence  they  come  to  these  lands  of 
India  ; and  after  purchasing  pepper  and  other  mer- 
chandise they  return  home.  By  this  route,  now  opened 
and  thoroughly  explored,  the  above  King,  whom  may 
God  preserve,  sent  six  other  enormous  ships,  which 
arrived  after  a six  months’  sail  at  the  city  of  Calicut. 
They  are  most  expert  sailors.’ 

Since  the  above  was  written,  an  interesting  paper  on 
‘The  Connection  of  St.  Thomas  with  India,'  by  W.  R. 
Philipps,  has  appeared  in  the  Indian  Antiquary , vol. 
xxxii.,  1903.  We  feel  bound  to  refer  to  it  here  because 
of  vague  hints  thrown  out  and  ‘ speculation  ’ indulged  in 
that  ‘Carmana,’  our  modern  Karman  in  Southern  Persia, 
might  represent  Calamina,  where  some  writers  have  said 
the  Apostle  Thomas  suffered  martyrdom  and  was  buried. 
The  writer  holds  that,  ‘ from  a geographical,  an  ethnical, 
and  indeed,  as  it  seems  to  me,  from  every  point  of  view' 
(p.  149),  the  site  of  the  Apostle’s  tomb  ought  to  be  looked 
for  in  that  quarter  rather  than  in  Southern  India. 

The  question  of  ‘ Calamina  ’ will  be  treated  by  us 
at  the  close  of  the  following  chapter,  and  what  strictly 
appertains  to  it  need  not  be  discussed  here ; but  now 
we  need  only  say  Calamina  does  not  exist,  and  never 
had  a geographical  existence.  The  question,  however, 
regarding  the  Indian  tomb  of  the  Apostle  is  quite 
a different  subject.  It  is,  of  course,  and  it  ought  to 
be,  quite  immaterial  to  the  scholar  where  the  tomb 
is  located.  He  will,  however,  feel  bound  to  follow 
the  evidence  given  by  history  for  its  identification.  If 
India  is  the  country,  as  we  have  found  to  be  the 
case  on  the  evidence  adduced,  where  we  should 
look  for  it,  what  place  is  there  in  India,  other  than 
Mylapore,  which  has  ever  set  forth  a claim  to  it  ? 


SAINT  THOMAS’S  TOMB  IN  INDIA 


99 


Decidedly  none  : not  only  in  no  other  part  of  India, 
nor  elsewhere,  has  such  a claim  been  raised — that 
of  Edessa  was  for  a second  tomb  where  the  sacred 
remains  rested  after  removal  from  India,  as  has  been 
seen  and  will  again  be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 
Why  then  should  there  be  any  objection  to  its  being 
placed  in  Southern  India,  and  topographically  at  Myla- 
pore  ? The  writer  admits  indeed  ‘there  is  nothing 
inherently  improbable  in  such  a supposition.’  As  to 
‘Carmana’  or  Carmania  of  old,  now  Karman,  the  Nesto- 
rians,  who  had  churches,  priests,  and  Christians  in  that 
part  of  Persia  down  to  past  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  must  certainly  have  known  if  at  any  time  it 
held  the  Apostle’s  tomb.  A claim  so  much  nearer  home 
would  not  have  been  overlooked  by  them  ; they  cer- 
tainly would  not  have  come  to  India  to  search  for  it. 
We  give  below  two  quotations  that  show  how  groundless 
is  the  suggestion  now  put  forward  in  the  paper  under 
discussion.  Assemani  (Bib/.  Oriental. , tom.  iii.)  pub- 
lishes several  letters  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch,  Jesuab, 
A.D.  650-660  ; the  extracts  are  taken  from  letter  No.  14 
(p.  130),  addressed  to  Simeon,  bishop  of  Revardshir,  the 
Metropolitan  of  Persia  at  the  time ; the  first  refers  to 
the  Christians  at  Merv,  the  second  to  those  at  Car- 
mania  : — 

Ubinam  ingens  Maruanitarum  (civitatis  Maru  [Merv]) 
populus  qui  quum  neque  gladium  neque  ignem  aut 
tormenta  vidissent,  solo  medietatis  bonorum  suorum 
amore  capti,  velut  amentes,  e vestigio  in  barathrum 
perfidiae,  hoc  est,  in  aeternam  perniciem  ruerunt.  The 
writer  goes  on  to  say  all  denied  the  faith,  except  two 
priests,  who,  as  he  remarks — instar  perustarum  titionum 
ex  flamma  impietatis  evadentibus,  &c. 

Ubinam  etiam  sunt  Caramaniae  totiusque  Persidis 
sanctuaria  ? quae  non  per  adventum  satanae,  aut  jussu 
regum  terrae,  aut  mandatis  praesidis  provinciarum, 


100  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


excisa  corruerunt,  sed  exigui  unius  vilissimi  daemonis 
flatu,  &c. 

There  were,  then,  Nestorians  in  the  town  and  pro- 
vince of  Karman ; if  they  never  left  any  intimation  to 
posterity  that  the  Apostle’s  tomb  was  in  their  midst,  it  is 
unlikely  any  later  suggestion  will  induce  a scholar  to 
place  it  there. 

We  owe  it  in  fairness  to  the  writer  of  the  paper  to 
add  that  having  received  from  us  a copy  of  the  above 
passages,  he  reproduced  them  by  way  of  rectification  in 
a note  published  in  the  Indian  Antiquary , 1904,  p.  31, 
under  the  heading  Miscellanea.  This  phase  of  the 
question  may  now  be  considered  closed. 


CHAPTER  IV 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  AND  TRADITIONAL 
RECORDS  OF  THE  APOSTLE 


I.  The  Apostle’s  Relics  at  Edessa  and  Subsequent 

Removal 


The  Syriac  text  of  the  Acts  of  Judas  Thomas , edited  by 
Wright  ( ut  supr.),  as  also  P.  Bedjan’s  edition  of  the 
same  in  Acta  Martyrum  et  Sanctorum , Paris,  vol.  iii., 
state  that  the  Bones  of  the  Apostle  were  removed  from 
India  during  the  lifetime  of  the  king  under  whom 
Thomas  suffered  martyrdom : the  quotation  is  from 
Wright’s  translation,  ‘for  one  of  the  brethren  had  taken 
them  away  secretly  and  conveyed  them  to  the  West.' 
The  Greek  version  recites  : eh  rwv  aBeXtyav  xXetyas  avrbv 
eh  MeaoTTOTajJLLav  airrjycuyev—ioT  one  of  the  brethren 
having  stolen  him  [the  Apostle’s  remains]  had  removed 
him  to  Mesopotamia.  The  Latin,  De  Miraculis , says  : 
Misdeus,  reserato  sepulchre,  ossa  invenire  non  potuit, 
quoniam  reliquias  sancti  apostoli  quidam  de  fratribus 
rapuerunt,  et  in  urbe  Edissa  a nostris  sepultus  est. 
St.  Gregory  of  Tours  (l.c.)  says : Thomas  apostolus 
secundum  historiam  passionis  ejus  in  Indiam  passus 
declaratur.  Cujus  beatum  corpus  post  multum  tempus 
adsumptum  in  civitatem,  quam  Syri  Aedissam  vocant, 
translatum  est  ibique  sepultum.  The  older  Latin,  Passio, 
recites  : Syri  ab  Alexandro  imperatore  romano  veniente 
victore  de  Persidis  praelio,  Xerse  rege  devicto,  impetra- 
runt  hoc  ut  mitteret  ad  regulos  Indorum  ut  redderent 
defunctum  civibus  ; sicque  factum  ut  translatum  esset 


6 


102  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


de  India  corpus  apostoli  et  positum  in  civitate  Edissa  in 
locello  argenteo  quod  pendet  ex  catenis  argenteis. 
The  date  of  the  war  waged  against  the  Persians  by  the 
Emperor  Alexander  brings  us  to  a.d.  233  (Gibbon’s 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire , chap,  viii.),  and 
the  mention  of  the  silver  casket  holding  the  Relics,  to 
the  year  442  {Chronicon  Edessen .,  Guidi’s  ed.,  infr .,  p.  7). 

St.  Ephraem  gave  us  no  hint  when  the  Bones  of 
the  Apostle  were  removed  to  Edessa  by  the  merchant, 
whose  name  also  he  omitted  to  mention.  There  are 
thus  two  traditions — one  that  the  Relics  or  Bones  (not 
the  whole  and  entire  body  as  some  have  supposed,  im- 
porting European  ideas  into  Eastern  questions,  and  these 
have  based  thereon  the  inference  that  the  Apostle’s  body 
could  not  have  been  in  India  if  it  were  buried  at  Edessa) 
were  removed  from  India  in  the  Apostolic  age.  The 
other  that  the  removal  took  place  at  a much  later  date. 
The  Alexandrian  date — towards  the  middle  of  the  third 
century — on  general  grounds  does  appear  the  more 
probable  of  the  two,  not  because  of  the  supposed  in- 
terposition of  the  emperor,  but  because  it  fits  in  better 
with  surrounding  data,  and  with  the  reopening  of  the 
trade  route  to  India  vid  the  Euphrates ; by  the  success- 
ful termination  of  the  war,  the  way  would  be  paved  for 
such  removal. 

The  Relics  of  the  Apostle,  while  at  Edessa,  underwent 
a local  translation  from  one  church  to  another.  In  the 
short  life  of  St.  Ephraem,  from  which  Assemani  has 
published  extracts  ( Bibl . Oriental .,  i.  p.  49),  the  follow- 
ing event  is  narrated:  ‘About  this  time  a paralytic  lay 
at  the  door  of  the  church  of  Saint  Thomas  in  the  same 
city  [Edessa]  : on  seeing  the  Saint,  according  to  his 
custom,  he  begged  alms.  Ephraem  replied,  gold  and 
silver  I have  not,  but  of  what  I have  I will  give  to 
thee.  Wilt  thou  be  healed  ? Certainly  ! answered  the 
paralytic.  If  thou  canst  do  aught,  for  the  Lord’s  sake 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS 


103 


help  me.  Ephraem  then  taking  him  by  the  hand  said, 
In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  arise.  Imme- 
diately the  man  suffering  from  paralysis  was  healed, 
and  he  who  was  lame  stood  upright  on  his  feet,’  &c. 
The  reader  will  remark  the  strong  resemblance  this 
narrative  bears  to  that  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  (chap.  iii.  6-8)  of  the  cure  of  the  lame  man  by 
the  Apostles  Peter  and  John.  We  are  not  here  vouch- 
ing for  the  authenticity  of  the  cure  and  its  details ; it  is 
unnecessary  for  our  present  purpose;  but  the  narrative 
discloses  a local  circumstance  we  feel  bound  to  accept — 
that  during  the  life  of  Ephraem  there  existed  at  Edessa 
a church  named  after  the  Apostle,  holding  the  Relics  of 
which  Ephraem  speaks  in  the  hymns  quoted  in  a pre- 
ceding chapter. 

Some  years  later  another  and  a larger  church  in 
the  same  city  was  completed  in  honour  of  the  Apostle, 
described  as  the  ‘Great  Church,'  or  the  ‘Basilica’  ; and 
to  this  the  Relics  were  removed  with  great  pomp  and 
ceremony.  The  Edessan  Chronicle , which  is  an  excerpt 
from  the  city  archives  made  by  an  anonymous  (published 
first  by  Assemani),  No.  xxxviii.,  recites 1 : Anno  705,  mense 
ab  (augusto),  die  22  advexerunt  arcam  Mar  Thomae 
apostoli,  in  templum  magnum  eidem  dicatum,  diebus  Mar 
Cyri  episcopi.  ‘ In  the  Seleucian  year  705  = A.D.  394, 
on  the  22nd  of  August,  when  Cyrus  was  bishop,  the 
casket  [containing  the  Relics]  of  the  Apostle  Thomas 
was  removed  to  the  great  church  erected  in  his  honour.’ 
A further  entry,  No.  lxi.,  recites:  Anno  753  Anatolius 
Stratelates  (militiae  praefectus)  fecit  argenteam  capsam 
in  honorem  ossium  sancti  Thomae  apostoli.  ‘ In  the 
year  442-443  Anatolius  the  General  (in  command  of  the 
troops)  made  an  offering  of  a silver  casket  to  hold  the 

1 Bill.  Oriental.,  vol.  i.  p.  388  ff.;  re-edited  by  Guidi,  Chronica 
Minora , tom.  iv.  of  third  series  of  ‘ Corpus  Scriptorum  Christianorum 
Orientalium,’  1903,  versio,  p.  6,  No.  xxxviii. 


104  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Bones  of  the  Apostle  Saint  Thomas.’  This  was  sus- 
pended, as  we  have  seen,  by  silver  chains  from  the 
roof. 

Some  writers  have  confused  the  second  removal  men- 
tioned here  with  the  first  arrival  of  the  Relics  at  Edessa. 
Barhebraeus  ( Chronicon  Ecclesiast.,  ed.  of  Abbeloos,  and 
Lamy,  tom.  L,  col.  66)  says : ‘Eulogius  was  made  Bishop  of 
Edessa,  and  he  built  the  Church  of  Mar  Daniel, which  is  also 
styled  of  Mar  Domitius.  During  his  episcopate  the  casket 
of  Mar  Thomas  the  Apostle  was  brought  from  India  to 
Edessa,  and  was  placed  in  the  Church  of  Mar  Thomas.' 
The  learned  writer  is  here  mistaken.  The  Edessan 
Chronicle , No.  xxxiv.,  has  the  following  entry,  ‘Per  idem 
tempus'  [that  is,  A.  Seleuc.  689  = a.d.  378-379],  ‘Mar 
Eulogius  became  bishop,’  &c. ; he  died  A.  Seleuc.  698  = 
A.D.  387-388,  as  is  stated  in  No.  xxxvii.  If  Barhebraeus' 
statement  were  true,  the  Relics  would  have  entered 
Edessa  several  years  after  the  death  of  St.  Ephraem  ; 
this  of  course  cannot  be  admitted. 

Ephraem,  who  was  born  at  Nisibis  and  had  lived 
there  up  to  the  year  363,  quitted  it  before  the  entry  of 
the  Persians,  when  that  city,  after  Julian's  defeat  and 
death,  was  by  Jovian,  under  the  conditions  of  peace 
forced  upon  him  by  Sapor,  King  of  Persia,  surrendered 
to  the  Persians,  and  removed  to  Edessa.  He  lived 
there  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  9th  of 
June  373  (see  Chronicon  Edessen.,  No.  xxx. ; also  Lamy, 
St.  Ephr.,  Hymni  et  Serin.,  tom.  iv.,  praef.,  p.  xxviii., 
and  tom.  ii.  pp.  89-97).  It  was  during  this  period  of  ten 
years  that  he  wrote  his  hymns  on  Saint  Thomas.  It 
becomes  thus  perfectly  clear  that  the  Relics  had  been 
at  Edessa  long  before  the  time  assigned  by  Barhebraeus 
for  their  arrival  from  India.  From  the  manner  in  which 
Ephraem  speaks  of  their  presence  among  the  citizens 
and  of  the  influence  they  exercised  on  them,  the 
reader  can  realise  for  himself  that  a sufficiently  lengthy 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  105 

period  must  have  elapsed  since  their  first  arrival  at 
Edessa. 

The  writer  of  the  article  ‘Saint  Thomas’  in  the 
Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquity  makes  the  error  of  con- 
fusing the  older  with  the  new  church,  and  supposes  that 
the  cure  of  the  leper  mentioned  above  occurred  at  the 
door  of  the  great  church.  This  second  church  was 
completed  after  Ephraem’s  death,  and  the  Relics  removed 
thereto  in  the  year  394,  as  shown  above. 

Both  the  Church  historians,  Socrates  and  Sozomen, 
record  the  erection  of  the  new  church,  but  not  in  the 
sense  of  the  writer  of  the  above  article,  who  states  that 
‘ St.  Thomas  was  interred  at  Edessa,  [as]  may  be  inferred 
from  Socrates  and  Sozomen.’  They  say  nothing  to 
imply  a burial  of  the  Apostle  in  the  church.  After 
having  detailed  in  previous  chapters  the  persecution 
waged  by  the  Emperor  Valens  against  the  Catholics,  they 
pass  to  his  attempt  to  impose  the  Arian  belief  on  the 
city  of  Edessa.1  Socrates  {Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  xviii. ; 
Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  Ixvii.)  says  : ‘ I think  it  unworthy 
to  pass  over  in  silence  what  had  been  done  in  Edessa  of 
Mesopotamia.  In  that  city  there  is  a renowned  and 
splendid  basilica  {fi aprvpiov ) dedicated  to  Thomas  the 
Apostle,  &c.,  which  the  emperor  [Valens]  was  desirous 
to  see,’  &c.2  And  Sozomen  {Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  vi.  cap.  xviii.; 

1 The  Edessan  Chronicle  supplies  the  following  data  in  support 
of  the  persecution  of  Catholics  (Guidi,  Chrenica  Minora , Scriptores 
Syri,  series  3a,  tom.  iv.,  Parisiis,  1903,  versio , p.  5 seq.).  After  men- 
tioning, No.  xxx.,  the  death  of  St.  Ephraem,  which  occurred  on  the 
9th  of  June,  A.  Seleuc.  684-31 1=  a. d.  373,  in  the  following  entry,  No. 
xxxi.,  it  recites  : ‘ In  the  month  of  Sept,  of  the  same  year  the  church 
of  Edessa  because  of  the  Arian  intrusion  had  to  be  surrendered  by  the 
people.’  The  entry  of  the  Arians  thus  took  place  three  months  after 
the  death  of  the  Saint;  at  No.  xxxiii.,  ‘the  same  year,’  that  is,  the 
year  A.  Sel.,  given  previously,  689-31 1 = A. D.  378-79,  ‘on  the  27  of 
Kanun  (December)  the  Catholics  re-entered  and  occupied  the  church 
of  Edessa.’ 

2 It  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  church  was  not  com- 


i ©6  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  Ixvii.)  : ‘ Having  heard  that  in  the 
city  of  Edessa  there  was  a noble  church  (eincrrjpiov),  dedi- 
cated to  Thomas  the  Apostle,  he  went  there  to  see  it. 
He  [Valens]  found  the  people  of  the  Catholic  church 
holding  their  assemblies  in  a field  near  the  city— for 
there  also  the  Catholic  churches  were  taken  from  them. 
He  violently  reproached  the  prefect,  and  even  struck  him 
on  the  cheek/  &c.  Neither  passage,  as  may  be  seen, 
can  be  construed  to  support  the  theory  put  forth  that 
the  Apostle  had  been  buried  in  that  church,  implying  a 
burial  after  death.  Rufinus  (born  about  345,  died  410), 
who  visited  the  city  of  Edessa  some  time  afterwards,  says 
much  the  same  as  what  the  two  above  quotations  con- 
tain (Hist.  Bed..,  lib.  ii.  cap.  v,,  Migne,  P.  L.,  tom.  xxi.  col. 
513):  Edessa  namque  Mesopotamiae  urbs  fidelium  popu- 
lorum  est,  Thomae  Apostoli  Reliquiis  decorata.  Ubi  cum 
per  se  imperator  populos  vidisset  ecclesiis  ejectos  in  campo 
habere  conventiculum,  tanta,  dicitur,  iracundia  accensus 
est,  &c.  Here  we  find  mention  made  of  the  Relics,  not 
of  a burial ; and  indeed  it  would  have  been  surprising 
had  Rufinus  expressed  himself  differently,  since  he  had 
ample  opportunity  to  acquaint  himself  personally  with 
the  local  traditions  of  Edessa  and  the  history  of  the 
Relics,  when  he  visited  the  city.1 

At  this  church  great  annual  festivals  used  to  be  held. 
A sermon  preached  at  one  of  these  celebrations  has 
come  down  to  us.  This,  from  internal  evidence,  Tille- 
mont  holds  (Memoir.  Hist.  Eccl. , vol.  i.  p.  358)  to  have 

pleted  at  the  time  of  the  emperor’s  visit,  and  certainly  did  not  then 
hold  the  relics  of  the  Apostle.  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  date 
given  above  of  their  transfer  to  this  new  church,  a.d.  394. 

1 His  visit  is  mentioned  in  the  eighth  chapter.  After  describing 
what  he  had  seen  of  the  disciples  of  St.  Anthony  in  Egypt,  he  adds 
what  he  had  himself  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edessa  {ibid., 
col.  517) : Habuit  autem  per  idem  tempos  Mesopotamia  viros  nobiles 
iisdem  studiis  pollentes.  Quorum  aliquantos  per  nos  apud  Edessam 
et  in  Carcarum  partibus  vidimus  ; plures  autem  auditione  didicimus. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  107 


been  delivered  in  the  year  402.  The  homily  had  been 
wrongly  attributed  to  St.  John  Chrysostom.1  What  is 
peculiar  about  it  is,  that  the  homily  should  have  been 
cited  under  the  name  of  this  Doctor  by  the  Lateran 
Council  held  by  Pope  Martin  I.,  A.D.  649,  and  by  the 
Sixth  Ecumenical  Council  held  at  Constantinople, 
A.D.  680.  Tillemont  {ibid.,  vol.  xi.  p.  392)  suggests  three 
grounds  for  rejecting  it  as  not  the  composition  of  the 
Doctor  of  the  Church — difference  of  style,  thoughts 
expressed  therein  not  held  worthy  of  him — and  since 
the  context  shows  the  sermon  to  have  been  delivered 
at  Edessa  and  before  the  Shrine  of  the  Apostle  in  the 
year  aforesaid,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
(Chrysostom)  had  then  visited  the  city.  He  concludes 
with  the  remark  that  even  in  the  lifetime  of  this  great 
preacher  homilies  came  to  be  attributed  to  him  not  the 
product  of  his  genius.  The  sermon  is  based  on  the  text 
from  St.  John  xx.  28,  containing  Thomas’s  avowal  of 
Christ’s  divinity,  ' My  Lord  and  my  God ! ' and  was 
preached  against  the  Arian  denial.  The  opening  section 
contains  language  grossly  exaggerated,  but  the  latter 
portion  is  a fine  piece  of  eloquence,  not  unlike  what 
may  be  found  in  some  of  Chrysostom’s  homilies. 

Tillemont  is,  however,  wrong  in  an  inference  he 
bases  on  the  composition,  that  ' the  homily  clearly 
states  that  the  body  of  the  Apostle  was  all  entire  in  one 
place,  and  that,  where  the  preacher  delivered  the  homily  ’ 
(vol.  i.  pp.  358-359).  We  reproduce  the  passage  which 
occurs  at  the  opening  of  the  address  : ‘ Shall  I speak  of 
Thomas  as  a man  ? But  his  tomb  (rd<£o?)  proclaims  his 
death  ? But  then  I shall  be  reproached  by  the  very 
events  (we  witness).  He  is  dead  and  he  is  immortal  ; 
he  as  a man  died,  but  he  dazzled  the  world  as  an  angel. 

1 Open.  S.Joan.  Chrysost.,  tom.  viii.,  Sermo  in  sanctum  Thomam 
apostolum,  col.  497-500,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  lix.  ; ed.  Mont- 
faucon,  Parisiis,  1836,  tom.  viii.  p.  625. 


xo8  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


He  suffered  martyrdom  ( passionem  excepit ),  and  he 
struggles  in  his  sufferings.  He  lies  here  below  and  is 
in  glory  above.  Nothing  can  conceal  him;  he  has 
spread  his  light  over  the  whole  world.  He  has  been 
buried,  but  he  shines  forth  everywhere  as  the  sun. 
The  relics  of  the  just  have  gone  round  the  world,  &c. 
Every  corner  of  the  earth  holds  a part  of  Thomas  ; he 
has  filled  every  place,  and  in  each  place  he  subsists 
entire,  &c.  The  barbarians  honour  Thomas,  all  people 
celebrate  his  feast  this  day,  and  make  an  offering  of  his 
words  as  a gift  to  the  Lord,  “ My  Lord  and  my  God  !”  ’ 
The  presence  of  the  Apostle  spoken  of  is  his  spiritual 
and  moral  presence  and  influence.  The  passage,  ‘ he 
lies  here  below,’  is  easily  understood  of  the  body  being 
on  earth  while  the  spirit  soars  aloft ; but  in  this  case  it 
may  have  also  a reference  to  the  presence  of  his  Relics 
in  the  church.  But  it  is  not  justifiable  to  take  this 
passage  in  an  isolated  form  and  apart  from  the  historical 
connections  of  these  Relics,  known  to  the  people  present 
at  the  sermon. 

Frequent  mention  of  the  continued  presence  of  the 
Relics  at  Edessa  could  be  adduced  from  different  writers 
down  to  the  period  of  the  Crusades.  The  last  witness 
who  makes  mention  of  them,  Archbishop  William  of 
Tyre,  will  be  found  quoted  later.  But,  while  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  extend  this  investigation  further,  we  will 
not  deprive  the  reader  of  the  beautiful  narrative  left  us 
by  a.  lady  pilgrim  who  visited  the  Shrine  early  in  the 
last  quarter  of  the  fourth  century.  For,  apart  from  the 
fact  of  her  narrative  confirming  the  general  tradition, 
she  gives  us  a glimpse  of  what  took  place  at  the  Shrine 
within  a few  years  of  the  death  of  St.  Ephraem.  We 
are  indebted  to  Professor  Gamurrini  for  having  brought 
to  light  this  early  1 Peregrinatio  ad  Loca  Sancta  ’ from 
the  one  MS  known  to  exist,  which  fortunately  fell  into 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  109 


his  hands  : for  details  of  text,  discovery,  and  history  of 
the  same,  the  reader  should  consult  his  two  papers  in 
the  Roman  publication,  Studi  e Documenti  di  Storia, 
1884-1885 — the  vol.  ix.  of  1888  contains  the  first  edition 
of  the  ‘ Peregrinatio ' ; see  also  Bibl.  dell’  Academia 
Storico-Giuridica , Roma,  vol.  iv.,  1887,  pp.  xxvii.  ff.  The 
book  was  published  apart  with  notes,  5.  Silviae  Aquitanae 
Peregrinatio  ad  Loca  Sancta,  altera  editio,  Roraae,  typis 
Vaticanis,  1888,  in  4to  ; we  quote  from  the  latter  edition, 
pp.  33-34 

‘ Pervenimus  in  nomine  Christi  Dei  nostri  Edessam  : 
ubi  cum  pervenissemus,  statim  perreximus  ad  ecclesiam 
et  ad  martyrium  sancti  Thomae.  Itaque  ergo  juxta  con- 
suetudinem  factis  orationibus,  et  caetera  quae  consuetudo 
erat  fieri  in  locis  sanctis  : nec  non  etiam  et  aliquanta 
ipsius  sancti  Thomae  ibi  legimus. 

‘ Ecclesia  autem  ibi,  quae  est  ingens  et  valde  pulchra 
et  nova  dispositione,  et  vere  digna  est  esse  domus  Dei ; 
et  quoniam  multa  erant,  quae  ibi  desiderabam  videre, 
necesse  me  fuit  ibi  stativa  triduana  facere.  Ac  sic  ergo 
vidi  in  eadem  civitate  martyria  plurima  ; nec  non 
et  sanctos  monachos  commanentes,  alios  per  martyria, 
alios  longius  de  civitate  in  secretioribus  locis  habentes 
monasteria.  Et  quoniam  sanctus  episcopus  ipsius 
civitatis,  vir  vere  religiosus  et  monachus  et  confessor, 
suscipiens  me  libenter  ait  mihi,  quoniam  video  te,  filia, 
gratia  religionis  tarn  magnum  laborem  tibi  imposuisse, 
ut  de  extremis  porro  terris  venires  ad  haec  loca  : itaque 
ergo,  si  libenter  habes,  quaecumque  loca  sunt  hie  grata 
ad  videndum  christianis,  ostendimus  tibi.  Tunc  ergo 
gratias  agens  Deo  primum,  et  sic  ipsum  rogavi  pluri- 
mum,  ut  dignaretur  facere  quod  dicebat.  Itaque  ergo 
duxit  me  primum  ad  palatium  Aggari  regis,’  &c. 

We  append  a translation  : — 

‘ In  the  name  of  Christ  our  God  we  arrived  safely  at 
Edessa.  On  arriving  there  we  visited  without  delay  the 


no  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


church  and  the  martyrium  of  Saint  Thomas  [the  Apostle]. 
In  accordance  with  our  usage  we  there  performed  our 
devotions  and  what  else  we  are  accustomed  to  do  when 
visiting  holy  places.  We  also  read  portions  of  the  Acts 
of  Saint  Thomas  [at  his  Shrine].  The  church  is  indeed 
a large  and  handsome  edifice  of  a new  design,  and 
it  is  really  worthy  to  be  the  House  of  God.  As 
the  city  held  many  sites  which  I desired  to  visit,  I 
stayed  there  for  three  days.  And  so  I was  able  to  see 
many  shrines  of  martyrs,  as  also  holy  monks  dwelling, 
some  at  the  shrines,  others  in  monasteries  situated  in 
isolated  places  far  from  the  city.  The  holy  bishop  of 
the  place,  a truly  religious  man,  a monk,  and  a confessor 
of  the  faith,  received  me  most  kindly.  He  said  to  me, 
Since  thou,  my  daughter,  for  the  sake  of  devotion  hast 
undertaken  so  great  a task  as  to  journey  so  far  from  the 
extreme  end  of  the  world,  if  it  be  pleasing  to  thee,  I 
shall  with  pleasure  take  and  show  thee  all  the  sites 
which  are  of  interest  to  us  Christians.  First  thanking 
God  [for  this  favour],  I begged  of  him  to  do  what  he 
had  offered.  So  he  guided  me  first  to  the  palace  of 
King  Aggar  ’ [Abgar],  &c. 

The  date  of  this  pilgrimage  is  fixed  by  the  learned  editor 
between  the  years  385  and  388,  and  this  partly  from 
internal  evidence.  The  writer  herself  he  took  to  be  one 
Silvia,  whose  brother  at  the  time  held  the  highest  office 
at  the  imperial  court  of  Constantinople  ; he  supposed 
she  came  on  this  pilgrimage  from  Aquitania  in  France. 
The  account  has  been  written  by  her  for  the  benefit  of 
religious  ladies  living  in  a convent,  to  whom  she  shows 
herself  greatly  attached.  Proof  for  much  of  all  this  is 
forthcoming  from  the  context  of  the  book.  But  the 
opinion  that  the  writer  was  Silvia  was  not  accepted  as 
decisive,  but  as  one  that  may  be  retained  until  further 
discoveries  on  the  subject  were  made.  From  the  quota- 
tion given  the  reader  is  able  to  see  the  familiar  tone  in 


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FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  hi 

which  the  remarks  have  been  jotted  down  in  a diary, 
apparently  shortly  after  their  occurrence,  and  the  book 
itself  has  the  appearance  of  being  nothing  more  than  a 
reproduction  of  these  notes  in  their  original  simplicity, 
fully  reflecting  the  writer’s  impressions. 

The  question  of  the  authorship  of  the  ‘ Peregrinatio  ' 
has  been  lately  discussed  very  fully  by  the  Benedictine, 
Dom  Marius  Ferotin  of  St.  Michael’s  Abbey,  Farn- 
borough.  The  research  discloses  that  the  lady  pilgrim 
came  from  the  western  coast  of  Spain  ; her  name  is 
either  Etheria,  or  more  probably  Egeria,  for  an  entry 
of  another  copy  of  the  MS.  has  been  found  in  an  old 
catalogue  with  that  name,  and  she  is  styled  an  abbess, 
a dignity  to  which  she  may  have  been  elevated  after  her 
return  to  the  convent  ( Le  veritable  auteur  de  la  1 Pere- 
grinatio Silviae,’  par  Dom  Marius  Ferotin,  Paris, 
I9°3)- 

The  lady  pilgrim  paid  a similar  visit  to  the  shrine 
of  the  first  virgin-martyr,  St.  Thecla  ; and  there  also, 
besides  praying  at  the  tomb,  she  read,  according  to  the 
pious  usage  of  the  time,  the  Acts  of  her  martyrdom. 
We  need  hardly  remark  these  would  not  be  the  dis- 
torted Gnostic  edition  that  has  come  down  to  us,  but  a 
copy  of  the  Acts  accepted  and  recognised  as  catholic 
and  genuine  by  the  Christians  of  that  age.  The  remark 
applies  with  equal  force  to  the  Acts  of  Thomas  which 
she  records  she  had  read  at  his  Shrine.  This  offers 
clear  proof  that  there  were  copies  which  had  not  been 
distorted  and  utilised  for  Gnostic  purposes,  as  we  find 
is  the  case  with  those  that  have  come  down  to  us.  The 
Acts  the  pilgrim  carried  with  her  were  in  Greek,  as  also 
was  the  Codex  of  the  Scriptures,  as  shown  from  her 
quotations. 

The  Relics  of  the  Apostle  remained  at  Edessa  even 
after  the  Greek  emperors  of  Constantinople  had  lost  the 


1 1 2 INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


city  and  it  had  passed  under  Arab  or  Saracen  sway. 
When  the  Crusaders  first  obtained  possession  of  the  city 
and  surrounding  country,  and  it  had  become  a county 
of  the  new  Kingdom  of  Baldwin,  they  were  known  to  be 
still  there.  The  latest  mention  we  find  of  them  is,  as 
we  said  before,  by  Archbishop  William  of  Tyre  in  his 
Historia  Rerum  in  partibus  Transmarinis  gestarum 
(Migne,  P.  L,,  tom.  cci.).  In  book  xvi.  chap.  iii.  the 
year  of  the  events  narrated  is  given ‘anno  1142';  at 
the  beginning  of  chap.  iv.  William  narrates  what  oc- 
curred ‘ eodem  anno’  [viz.  1142]  ; at  col.  642  he  says  : 
‘ Sanguinus  [Zenghi]  imperator  Turcarum  e civitate 
Musula  [Mosul]  obsedit  urbem  Edessam  ’ ; and  at 
chap.  v.  col.  644 : destructo  ex  magna  parte  muro 
civitatis  hostis  ingreditur,  cives  gladio  perierunt  nullo 
parcens  sive  aetati  sive  sexui ; and  towards  the  end 
(col.  645):  Urbs  antiquissima  et  nomini  christiano  e 
temporibus  Apostolorum  devota,  verbo  et  praedicatione 
Apostoli  Thaddaei  ab  infidelium  superstitione  eruta, 
indebitae  jugum  passa  est  servitutis.  Dicitur  in  eadem 
urbe  et  corpus  beati  Thomae  apostoli,  una  cum  prae- 
dicti  apostoli,  et  beati  Abgari  regis  corporibus  esse 
sepultum,  &c.  All  this  goes  to  establish  the  fact  that 
when  Zenghi,  the  Emir  of  Mosul,  captured  the  city  in 
1142,  the  Remains  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  were  known  to 
be  yet  there.  Pagi  ( apud  Baron.  Annales,  1144,  cap.  xiv.) 
assigns  the  capture  of  Edessa  to  the  year  1144,  and 
Mansi  holds  it  to  have  taken  place  in  1143  ; Baronius 
himself  in  his  Annals  does  not  mention  the  capture  of 
the  city  by  the  Saracens.  Would  not  William  of  Tyre, 
being  practically  on  the  spot,  be  in  a better  position  to 
know  more  accurately  the  exact  date  than  writers  in 
Europe  who  would  receive  the  news  a year  or  two  later, 
and  perhaps  with  no  fixed  date  ? 

The  city  was  captured  by  Zenghi  from  the  Christian 
knights  after  a siege  of  twenty-eight  days.  A year  later, 


Slab  of  Chalcedony  which  covered  the  Apostle’s  Relics  at  Chios,  now  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Ortona,  showing  Figure  Bust  and  Greek  Inscription 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  113 

the  Saracen  hold  becoming  weaker,  the  citizens  invited 
Count  Joscelin,  the  holder  of  the  county,  to  return.  He 
re-entered  the  city  and  held  it  with  his  knights,  but  the 
fortress  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Mussulmans. 
Noradin,  the  son  of  Zenghi  deceased,  who  had  been 
engaged  in  asserting  his  claim  to  the  throne,  on  learn- 
ing what  had  happened,  hastily  recruited  an  army  and 
arrived  suddenly  before  the  city,  which  he  promptly  re- 
captured ; he  sacked  the  place,  slaughtered  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  destroyed  the  city.  A full  account  of  these 
events  will  also  be  found  in  Michaud’s  Histoire  des  Cru- 
sades, Paris,  1849,  vol.  i.  pp.  350-357,  with  details  from 
Mahommedan  sources  as  well ; see  also  Rubens  Duval's 
Histoire  politique,  religeuse,  et  litteraire  d' Edesse,  Paris, 
1892,  chap,  xiii.,  p.  252  ff.  Pagi  (l.e.)  quotes  the 
Annales  of  one  Signantius,  abbot,  who,  writing  of  the 
destruction  of  churches  that  had  occurred,  mentions 
also  that  of  the  Apostle — ' in  qua  Thomaei  Apostoli 
corpus  reconditum  est.’ 

It  is  taken  for  granted  that  it  was  after  this  second 
sack  and  destruction  of  Edessa  that  some  of  the  surviv- 
ing Christian  inhabitants  recovered  the  Relics  of  the 
Apostle  from  the  ruins  of  the  church.  As  the  whole 
of  Asia  Minor  was  liable  to  be  overrun  by  the  rising 
Mahommedan  power,  these  were  transferred  for  safety 
to  an  island  off  the  coast — that  of  Chios.  No  details  are 
now  likely  to  be  found  as  to  how  and  when  the  transfer 
to  Chios  took  place  ; there  is,  however,  ample  evidence 
that  they  were  there  held  to  be  the  genuine  Relics  of  the 
Apostle,  as  the  stone — for  they  appear  to  have  been 
placed  in  some  sort  of  a tomb — which  covered  the  re- 
mains bore  his  name  and  bust  engraved,  of  which  an 
illustration  is  reproduced. 

Of  their  subsequent  history  we  are  put  in  possession 
of  ample  details  through  the  kindness  of  Archdeacon 

H 


1 14  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Perenich  of  Ortona,  who  is  also  the  Vicar-General  of 
that  diocese,  jointly  administered  in  perpetuum,  together 
with  his  own,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Lanciano.  Ughelli 
gives  an  account  of  the  removal  from  Chios  to  Ortona 
a Mare,  but  by  some  strange  fatuity  and  ignorance  of 
elementary  geography  he  describes  the  removal  as 
having  taken  place  by  sea  from  Edessa.  Nicholas 
Coleti,  in  the  second  edition  of  Ughelli's  work,  corrects 
the  mistake,  saying  the  island  of  Chios  should  stand  in 
the  place  of  Edessa,  but  leaves  the  text  unaltered.  The 
following  details  are  taken  from  this  second  edition.1 
The  cathedral,  which  was  formerly  dedicated  to  our 
Lady,  is  now  dedicated  to  the  Apostle  Thomas,  and 
holds  his  Relics  in  a chapel.  An  inscription  in  the 
church  attests  that  the  first  dedication  was  made  on  the 
ioth  November  1127  ; the  Relics  rest  there  since  1258. 
A local  document  is  reproduced  by  Ughelli  in  the  text 
which  gives  an  account  of  the  transfer  from  Chios  (see 
cols.  774-776).  The  local  story  recites  that  on  the  17th 
of  June  1258,  by  order  of  Manfred,  Prince  of  Taranto, 
a fleet  under  Philip  Leonard,  the  admiral  of  the  prince, 
had  sailed  under  the  orders  of  a certain  Stolio  ; the 
ships  eventually  reached  Chios.  On  the  approach  of 
the  fleet  the  inhabitants  fled  the  town,  and  a landing 
being  effected,  it  came  to  be  known,  through  a monk 
found  in  the  church,  that  the  Relics  of  the  Apostle 
Thomas  reposed  under  a slab  bearing  an  inscription 
and  the  figure  of  a bust.  The  Relics,  together  with 
the  covering  stone,  were  removed  to  the  ship  of  Leo 
Acciaiuoli  of  Ortona,  and  the  ship  in  company  with 
two  others  set  sail  for  Ortona,  which  was  reached  Friday 
the  sixth  of  September.  The  Relics  were  removed  in 
solemn  pomp  to  the  cathedral.  A monument  recording 

1 Italia  Sacra,  Ferdinandi  Ughelli , Abbatis  SS.  Vincentii  et 
Anastasii  ad  aquas  Salvias  j editio  secunda  cura  Nicolai  Coleti, 
Venetiis,  1720,  tom.  vi.  col.  773  seq. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  115 


the  event  was  placed  in  the  church  at  a later  date,  bear- 
ing the  following  inscription 

D.  O.  M. 

Leoni  Duel  ET  Civi  Ortonensi 
Classis  Praefecto 
quo  sub  Manfredo  a Chio  insula 
Anno  Domini  mcclviii 
Ossa  Beati  Thomae  Apostoli 

CAELITUS  ADMONITUS 

AD  Ortonam  Patriam 

TRANSPORTAVIT 

ClVES  ORTONENSES  OB  TAM  PRAECLARUM 
FACINUS  GRATI  ANIMI  ERGO 
MONUMENTUM  AETERNUM 
POSUERE 

Anno  Domini  mdciii. 

And  outside  the  church,  the  following  : — 

Magne  Leo  in  patriam  spoliis  Orientis  onustus 
Dum  remeas,  Thomae  hue  ossa  beata  refers. 

Thomae  ossa  infidi,  tetigit  qui  vulnera  Christi, 

Tartara  ex  latebra  quern  rediisse  negat. 

Plus  tibi  debemus  cives  pro  rnunere  tanto, 

Quam  si  adducta  tibi  hue  India  tota  foret. 

While  at  Ortona  the  Relics  underwent  another  vicis- 
situde. A Turkish  fleet  under  Ali  Pasha  captured  the 
town  on  Thursday,  1st  August  1566  ; the  town  was 
sacked  by  the  enemy,  who  burnt  and  destroyed  the 
churches,  including  that  of  the  Apostle.  Finding  the 
altar  of  the  Saint  protected  by  heavy  iron  railings,  and 
their  efforts  to  burst  open  the  Shrine  failing,  they 
employed  gunpowder,  and  caused  an  explosion  which 
burst  up  the  stone  forming  the  altar  slab  and  fractured 
also  that  of  chalcedony  brought  from  Chios,  mentioned 
in  the  footnote.  It  would  seem  that  they  expected  to  find 
great  treasure  there.  On  the  departure  of  the  Turkish 


n6  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


fleet,  when  the  inhabitants  were  able  once  more  to 
return  to  the  city  and  ascertain  the  extent  and  nature  of 
the  damage  sustained,  they  found,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
accumulated  debris  and  cinders,  the  sacred  bones  of  the 
Apostle,  which  had  reposed  under  the  altar  with  the  relics 
of  other  saints,  most  providentially  preserved  intact.  But 
they  missed  his  head  ; after  further  search  it  was  found 
crushed  under  the  weight  of  a portion  of  the  fractured 
altar-stone  ; they  reverently  picked  it  up,  and  were 
afterwards  able,  to  their  great  joy  and  satisfaction,  to 
reconstruct  the  skull  so  thoroughly  that  no  part  was 
found  missing.  A Notarial  Act  of  what  had  occurred 
was  drawn  up  by  those  present,  attested  and  signed  by 
the  Bishop,  John  Domenic  Rebiba  ; the  Judge,  John  Vin- 
cent de  Renaldo  ; the  Syndic,  Pompeius  Panza  ; Joseph 
Massarius,  Public  Notary,  and  many  others.  This 
‘ Deed  of  the  Verification  of  the  Relics ' bears  the  date 
of  16th  November  1566.  A copy  of  this  document 
has  been  kindly  furnished  by  the  Archdeacon,  Vicar- 
General  of  Ortona.1 

1 The  principal  sections  of  the  deed  are  as  follows  : — 

‘ Deposuerunt,  declaraverunt,  et  confessi  et  testificati  fuerunt  cum 
juramento  in  vulgari  sermone  : 

‘Che  al  primo  del  mese  di  Agosto  dell’  anno  di  N.  S.  1566, 
giorno  di  Giovedi,  essendo  brugiata  la  detta  Venerab.  Chiesa  di 
S.  Tommaso  Apostolo  nella  detta  cittk  di  Ortona  dall’  armata 
Turchesca,  essi  D.  Bartolomeo,  &c.,  &c.,  ed  andando  per  vedere  il 
danno  di  detta  Chiesa,  la  ritrovarono  tutta  brugiata,  e rivoltandosi 
verso  il  sacrato  Altare,  ove  riposavano  1’  Ossa  del  Glorioso  Apostolo 
Tommaso,  lo  ritrovarono  tutto  in  terra  spezzato,  e la  gran  feriata 
riversata  sotto  sopra,  ed  entro,  dove  era  la  casetta  delle  Sante 
Reliquie,  uno  grandissimo  fuoco,  e carboni  accesi,  &c.,  &c.  Con 
alcuni  legni  incominciarono  a levare  il  fuoco  da  detto  Altare,  e 
incominciarono  a ritrovare  le  sante  Ossa  immacolate  e intatte,  come 
se  non  state  fossero  nel  fuoco,  e lustravan  come  vetro ; il  che 
vedendo  essi  Don  Bartolomeo  e Luca  in  presenza  di  essi  Giovanni, 
Bernardino,  Leonardo,  Bernardo,  Sebastiano  ed  altri,  cominciarono 
a pigliare  dette  sante  Ossa,  e porle  in  una  tovaglia,  e in  alcuni 
fazzoletti,  non  senza  grandissima  effusione  di  lagrime  di  tutti,  e cosi 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  117 

The  slab  of  chalcedony  marble,  which  was  brought 
over  from  Chios,  is  preserved  in  the  church,  and,  as 
said  above,  it  was  fractured  by  the  Turks.  It  has  the 
bust  of  the  Apostle  engraved  on  it,  and  on  either  side 
of  the  head  are  engraved  the  Greek  words  Ayio<>  Ow/xas, 
‘ Saint  Thomas.’  Owing  to  the  stone  being  fractured  by 
the  explosion,  it  is  now  affixed  to  the  wall  of  the  chapel 
where  the  Apostle’s  Relics  were  replaced,  and  the  follow- 
ing inscription  is  placed  below  it  : — 

Marmor  Calcedonium 
PARVA  DIVI  THOMAE  APLI  IMAGINE 
AC  NOMINE  GRECE  INSCULPTO 
DECORUM 

Saracenorum  BARBARIE 
SACRA  OMNIA  ANNO  MDLXVI 
INCENDIO  VASTANTIUM 
INFRACTUM 

NATIVOQUE  OB  IGNEM  COLORE  DESERTUM 
URNAE  EJUS  APLI  EX  AERE 
EXTERNAE  DEAURATAE 
SUB  ALTARI  CONDITAE 
ELEGANTIUS  NUPER  ERECTO 
ADPOSITUM 

AD  SACRAE  POSTERITATIS  MEMORIAM 
Ordo  POPULUSQUE  Ortonensis 
HIC  COLLOCANDUM  CURAVIT 

Anno  mdcclxxiv 


ne  ricuperaron  una  gran  quantitk,  facendo  il  simile  esso  Don 
Bartolomeo  e Luca  il  sabato  sequente  in  presenza  di  detti  D. 
Giov.  Aloisio,  Giov.  Bernardino,  Giov.  Leonardo,  ed  altri.  Poscia 
la  Domenica  sequente,  quarto  di  detto  mese  di  Agosto  1566  detto 
Giov.  Antonio  con  detto  Luca  ed  altri  ritornarono  in  detto  luogo  e 
compitamente  ricuperarono  tutte  le  sante  Reliquie  di  detto  Apostolo 
dalli  carboni  e sassi,  &c.,  poi  non  potendo  ritrovare  il  Glorioso  capo 
d’esso  Apostolo,  detti  D.  Giovanni  Ant0,  Luca  ed  altri  sudetti 
stavano  malinconici,  e piangendo,  sempre  pregando  Nostro  Signore 
G.  C.  loro  volesse  ispirare  dove  stava  detto  capo,  e cosi  cominciarono 
tutti  con  gran  fatica  a muovere  detta  feriata  ; e Iddio  lodato,  ritro- 
varono  la  testa  di  detto  Glorioso  Apostolo  di  Cristo  sotto  alcune 
pietre  di  detto  santo  Altare,  rimasta  sotto  detta  feriata  illesa  dal 


n8  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  sacred  Relics  now  repose  in  a bronze  urn  placed 
beneath  a marble  altar.  The  head  of  the  Apostle  is 
placed  in  a silver  bust  (see  illustration),  and  is  exposed 
to  public  veneration  on  the  celebration  of  the  feast.1 

Ughelli  cites  a book  written  by  De  Lectis  on  the 
transfer  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  to  Ortona.  This,  the 
latter  says,  took  place  on  the  date  above  mentioned, 
sixth  September  1258  ; the  Archdeacon  has  kindly  in- 
formed us  that  the  book,  of  which  we  could  find  no  copy, 
was  printed  at  Fermo  at  the  press  of  Astolfo  de’  Grandi 
in  1577,  and  bears  the  title  : Vita  del glorioso  Apostolo  di 
Cristo  Tommaso,  con  la  traslazione  e miracoli  in  esso  per 
virtu  di  Dio  operati,  &c. 

II. — The  Apostle’s  Martyrdom  Upheld 

Tillemont,  in  his  remarks  on  the  Apostle’s  history, 
makes  a reference  to  Heracleon’s  statement  that  Thomas 
did  not  suffer  a martyr’s  death,  only  to  reject  it.  He  points 

fuoco,  ma  perb  rotta  per  il  peso  che  1’  era  caduta  sopra  ; e cost 
divotamente  con  lagrime  pigliarono  la  detta  testa  e‘ fu  ricomposta 
per  le  mani  di  essi  D.  Bartolomeo,  D.  Giovanni,  ed  alcuni  altri 
sacerdoti,  con  1’  intervento  del  quondam  D.  Muzio  de  Sanctis  allora 
Vicario  di  detta  Chiesa,  in  presenza  del  Magnifico  Giovan  Battista 
de  Lectis  Fisico  [ anglice , Physician]  e detti  Giov.  Tommaso  de 
Summa  e Giuseppe  Masca  ed  altri,  ricomponendola  di  modo  come 
se  mai  rotta  stata  fosse,  con  tutto  il  martirio,  senza  mancarvi  pur  un 
minimo  osso,  &c.,  &c.,  e di  pui  li  sopradetti  dichiarano  che  ivi  erano 
conservate  altre  sante  reliquie,  ed  essi  tutti  dicono  ed  affermano  che 
1’  Ossa  del  Glorioso  Apostolo  Tommaso  riconobbero  da  quelle  altre 
dallo  splendore  e lucidezza  che  avvevano  quell’  Ossa,  le  quali  erano 
negre  come  ebano,  1’  altre  erano  bianche.’ 

1 The  Archdeacon  writes  : ‘ Thrice  in  the  year  feasts  are  kept  in 
honour  of  the  Apostle.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  May,  the  day  fixed  for 
the  celebration  of  the  solemn  transfer  to  Ortona  ; the  6th  of  Septem- 
ber, the  day  of  the  arrival  of  the  Relics  at  Ortona  ; and  on  the  21st  of 
December,  the  day  of  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom.  The  feast  day  in  May 
is  the  occasion  when  (the  Head  of  the  glorious  Apostle,  enshrined  in 
a rich  silver  bust,  is  exposed  to  public  veneration,  and  is  carried  in 
solemn  procession  through  the  city.  This  is  not  done  at  the  other 
festivals.  The  May  festival  is  kept  up  for  three  days. 


Altar  of  St.  Thomas,  Cathedral,  Ortona  a Mare  (Italy),  under 
which  the  Apostle  Thomas’s  Relics  Repose 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  119 

out  that  Theodoret  numbers  him  among  the  martyrs,  and 
observes  that  this  passage  can  hardly  be  applied  to 
any  other  but  the  Apostle.  The  passage  occurs  in  the 
work  entitled  ‘ Graecorum  Affectionum  Curatio  ' (Migne, 
P.  Gr.-L.,  vol.  lxxxiii.,  of  Theodoret’s  works,  vol.  iv., 
Sermo  viii.  de  Martyribus ) .-  Pro  aliis  festis  vestris  [vide- 
licet gentilium]  Petri  et  Pauli  et  Thomae  et  Sergii  et 
Marcelli  et  Leontii  et  Panteleemonis  et  Antonini  et 
Mauricii  aliorumque  martyrum  solemnitates  peraguntur.1 
He  opposes  the  Christian  festivals  in  honour  of  the 
martyrs  to  those  kept  by  the  pagans  in  honour  of  their 
divinities  in  Syria.  The  name  of  Thomas  occurring 
after  those  of  Peter  and  Paul  cannot  but  be  that  of  the 
Apostle  Thomas,  there  being  besides  no  prominent 
martyr  of  that  name ; and  if  a reason  be  sought  why 
Thomas  is  named  in  preference  to  any  other  Apostle, 
it  will  occur  that  it  arose  from  the  circumstance  that  in 
the  country,  and  around,  where  Theodoret  resided,  no 
martyr  was  held  in  greater  honour,  or  no  festival  was 
celebrated  with  greater  pomp  and  affluence  of  people, 
than  that  of  Thomas  in  the  chief  town  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, Edessa. 

Tillemont  also  makes  mention  of  St.  Gaudentius,  who 
expressly  states  that  the  Apostle  was  killed  by  infidels  ; 
the  quotation  was  given  in  Chapter  II.  p.  45. 

There  is  also  the  evidence  of  St.  Asterius,  Metropolitan 
of  Amasia  in  Pontus,  who  died  at  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century,  499  (Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  xl.  col.  326 — In  praise 
of  the  Martyrs):  ‘Consider  how  many  you  slight  by  one 
wrong  : John  the  Baptist,  James,  named  the  brother 
of  the  Lord,  Peter,  Paul,  Thomas.  These  I call  leaders 

1 Theodoret,  born  387-396,  was  made  bishop  of  Cyrus  near  the 
Euphrates  in  423,  died  c.  458  (Bardenheweds  Les  Peres  de  VEglise ). 
The  passage  of  Theodoret  given  above  is  quoted  by  Card.  Baronius 
in  his  essay  prefacing  the  Martyrologium  Ro?nanum,  and  by  Ruinart 
in  the  general  introduction  to  his  Acta  Sincera  Marty  non. 


120  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


of  Martyrs.'  St.  Nilus  of  Constantinople,  who  died 
in  430,  is  equally  clear  on  the  subject ; he  retired  from 
the  court  with  his  son  Theodulus  to  the  monastery  of 
Mount  Sinai  ( apud  Photium  in  Bibliotheca , Codex  276, 
homil.  secunda — De  Christi  Ascensione)  : ‘ Stephen,  like  a 
branch,  is  lopped  off  from  the  Church,  and  another  palm 
fruitful  of  martyrs  springs  up.  James  and  Peter  are  cut 
off  ; another  martyr  arises,  and  when  he  is  struck  off, 
another  fruitful  palm  sprouts.  The  vintage  removes  Paul, 
and,  another  shoot  maturing,  Thomas  appears,’  &c. 

There  have  not  been  wanting,  however,  writers  of 
modern  date 1 who  do  not  hesitate  to  put  forth  this  old 
fable,  first  prompted  by  Valentinian  envy  at  the  glory 
derived  by  the  Church  from,  the  number  of  her  martyrs, 
to  rob  the  Apostle  Thomas  and  others  of  the  glory  of 
having  attested  the  truth  of  their  preachings  by  the  seal 
of  martyrdom,  Heracleon's  passage  referred  to  occurs 
in  Clement  of  Alexandria’s  Stromat.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  ix.  : ‘For 
not  all  that  were  saved  made  the  confession  in  words 
[before  tribunals  and  magistrates]  and  so  died  [by  suffer- 
ing martyrdom]  ; of  this  number  were  Matthew,  Philip, 
Thomas,  Levi,2  and  many  others.'  Dr.  Murdock 
comments  that  Clement  allows  the  statement  to  pass 
unchallenged ; this  he  takes  as  a proof  that  he  had 
nothing  to  allege  against  it.  Heracleon  denies  the 
martyrdom  not  of  one  but  of  several  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles  ; and  it  is  not  a little  surprising  that,  in  the 
light  of  present-day  ecclesiastical  literature,  writers  are 
found  to  appeal  to  such  an  authority  in  opposition  to 
the  common  belief  of  Christendom.  The  first  question 

1 Among  modem  writers  who  contest  the  martyrdom  of  the 
Apostle  Thomas  are  Dr.  James  Murdock  in  his  Ate  to  Mosheim’s 
Ecclesiastical  History , nth  ed.,  London,  1878,  p.  21  ; R.  A.  Lipsius, 
Diet,  of  Christian  Biography,  art.  ‘Acts  of  the  Apostles  (Apocryphal),’ 
pp.  26-32,  &c. 

2 In  the  Gospels  Levi  is  Matthew  ; compare  Luke  v.  2 7 and 
Mark  ii.  14  with  Matthew  ix.  9. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  121 


to  be  asked  is,  Does  Clement’s  silence  imply  his  avowal 
of  the  truth  of  Heracleon’s  assertion  ? Those  who  have 
had  occasion  to  study  this  work  of  Clement  cannot 
but  be  aware  how  great  is  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining 
what  the  writer  accepts  and  what  he  merely  adduces 
by  way  of  erudition  and  a show  of  general  know- 
ledge. Let  us  turn  to  the  author  himself  and  see  if 
he  offers  a key  to  the  solution  of  this  difficulty.  There 
are  certain  passages  in  which  he  explains  his  method  of 
treating  the  subjects  he  brings  forward.  In  one  place 
he  says  ( Stromat .,  lib.  vii.  cap.  xviii. ; Migne.,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom. 
ix.  col.  556)  : ‘ The  Stromates  may  not  be  compared  to  a 
cared-for  garden,  planted  on  symmetrical  lines  to  please 
the  eye,  but  rather  to  a mountain  all  covered  with  (wild) 
trees  of  cypress,  plane,  laurel  with  (creeping)  ivy,  as 
well  as  with  apple,  olive,  and  fig  trees  in  such  manner 
that  of  set  purpose  the  fruit-bearing  and  the  wild  trees 
are  intermixed.'  And  again,  ‘The  Stromates  thus  dis- 
regard connection,  and  style,  as  the  pagans  themselves 
renounce  all  flower  of  language  and  sow  their  dogmas 
secretly  and  without  method,  wishing  the  reader  to  take 
pains  and  endeavour  to  detect  them.’  And  once  more 
(lib.  vi.  cap.  i.)  : ‘The  flowers  on  the  lawn  and  the  fruit- 
bearing trees  in  the  orchards  are  not  ranged  separately 
according  to  species,  &c.  ; so  in  like  manner  all  the 
different  thoughts  that  have  passed  in  our  mind — with- 
out any  effort  of  style  and  order  but  of  set  purpose — 
are  jotted  down  pell-mell,  and  like  unto  a variegated 
meadow  our  varied  work  of  the  Stromates  has  been 
composed.' 1 After  this  open  avowal  by  the  author  that 
he  has  purposely  jotted  down  indiscriminately  ideas  of 
all  sorts  that  have  floated  through  his  mind,  it  would 
seem  useless  to  inquire  why  Clement  did  not  correct 
the  Valentinian’s  assertion  if  he  disapproved  of  it. 

1 These  passages  are  quoted  from  Bardenhewer’s  Les  Peres  de 
PEglise,  vol.  i.  p.  241,  Paris,  1898. 


122  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Additional  evidence  for  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom  was 
given  in  Chapter  II.,  and  will  be  found  elsewhere. 

III. — -Different  Versions  of  the  Martyrdom 

It  will  be  part  of  our  task  to  set  forth  successively  the 
different  versions  of  the  Martyrdom. 

The  Acts  of  Thomas 

The  Syriac  text,  Wright’s  translation,  p.  293  f. : On 
the  King  having  decided  on  the  Apostle’s  death,  he 
hesitated  as  to  what  orders  he  should  issue,  ‘ because 
he  was  afraid  of  the  great  multitude  that  was  there 
present,  and  because  many  believed  in  the  Lord  even  of 
the  King’s  nobles.'  The  King  therefore  decided  on 
taking  Thomas  away  from  the  crowd.  He  made  him 
accompany  him  under  a guard  to  a distance  of  about 
half  a mile  beyond  the  town,  and  then  said  to  them, 
' Go  up  on  the  mountain  and  stab  him.’  On  their 
reaching  the  top  of  the  hill  Thomas  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  pray,  and  having  done  so,  he  bid  the  soldiers  execute 
the  order  they  had  received  : 1 the  soldiers  then  came 
and  struck  him  all  together.' 1 

1 There  are  two  Mounts  St.  Thomas  in  the  vicinity  of  Myla- 
pore,  the  ‘great’  and  the  ‘little’  mount.  The  former  is  the  one 
generally  designated  as  Mount  St.  Thomas.  The  following  topo- 
graphical details  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  a clear  idea  of  the 
localities  reputed  to  be  connected  with  the  memory  of  the  Apostle 
at  Mylapore  (consult  Map  of  Mylapore  and  its  Environs,  and  Illus- 
trations) : — 

1.  Mount  St.  Thomas  (‘the  Great’). — The  church  which  now 
crowns  the  summit  was  erected  by  the  Portuguese  ; there  had  been 
one  probably  before.  When  the  writer  visited  the  place,  on  climbing 
the  hill,  he  was  struck  by  noticing,  halfway  up  the  hill,  an  artificially 
levelled  spot — the  hill  itself  is  an  abrupt,  insulated  hill  of  protruding 
granite.  On  inquiry  he  was  informed  that  in  former  ages  the 
Nestorians  had  a bishop’s  residence  on  the  spot.  He  has  since 
learned  that  there  exists  an  old  record  in  the  archives  of  the  diocese 
of  Mylapore — undated  and  unsigned — stating  that  at  the  time  the 
Portuguese  arrived  at  Mylapore  (subsequently  named  Sun  Thomf) 
the  Mount  St.  Thomas  was  wooded,  and  was  the  resort  of  Nestorian 


Mount  St.  Thomas,  Traditional  Scene  of  the  Apostle’s  Martyrdom;  Church  on  Summit 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  123 

The  Greek  version  reads  : ‘ He  handed  him  to  four 
soldiers  in  command  of  an  officer,  ordering  them  to 
take  him  up  on  the  mountain  and  there  to  pierce  him 
with  their  lances,  and  then  return  to  town,  &c.  Having 
ascended  the  mount  and  reaching  the  spot  of  execution, 
Uzanes  persuaded  the  soldiers  to  allow  him  to  pray,  and 
having  prayed,  (he  said),  Arise,  complete  the  orders  of 
him  who  sent  you — the  four  coming  forward  pierced 
him  with  their  lances,  and  falling  he  died,’  &c. 

The  Latin  De  Miraculis  has  the  same  story,  and 

hermits  [say,  monks] ; the  church  and  monastery  that  had  stood  on 
the  mount  had  crumbled  and  was  in  ruins.  The  mount  is  about  six 
miles  from  Mylapore,  and  is  traditionally  reputed  to  be  the  site  of  the 
Apostle’s  martyrdom.  It  stands  out  conspicuously  by  its  towering 
height  in  a flat  country. 

2.  The  Little  mount  is  only  two  miles  from  the  town  of  San 
Thome  ; it  is  an  outcrop  of  granite  some  eighty  feet  high.  Local 
tradition  points  to  it,  not  as  the  site  of  the  martyrdom — it  is  made  the 
centre  of  the  peacock  legend — but  as  the  place  where  the  Apostle 
sought  refuge  from  his  persecutors,  and  probably  it  was  the  place  he 
would  resort  to  for  prayer  and  contemplation  ; it  has  a small  cave  at 
the  summit,  now  enclosed  in  the  church  crowning  the  knoll.  The 
Jewish  custom  should  here  be  remembered,  practised  by  our  Lord  as 
well,  of  resorting  to  hill  tops  for  prayer  and  seclusion  (Luke  vi.  12  ; 
xxii.  39,  &c.)  ; further,  all  the  shrines  of  Israel  were  situated  on  hill 
tops.  The  most  prominent  hill  on  the  Malabar  coast,  a table-top 
mountain  in  appearance,  named  Maleatur,  is  also  traditionally  con- 
nected with  the  Apostle.  Near  the  summit  of  the  granite  outcrop  of 
the  ‘ little  ’ mount,  there  is  a cleft  in  the  rock  which  always  holds 
some  water,  though  it  is  difficult  to  say  whence  it  comes. 

3.  The  Apostles  Tomb. — This  traditional  site,  now  adjacent  to  the 
seashore,  has  recently  come  to  be  enclosed  in  the  crypt  of  the  new 
Cathedral  of  San  Thome.  We  have  said  ‘now  adjacent,’  because 
there  is  an  old  tradition  that  the  sea  was  at  one  time  some  miles,  say 
two  or  three,  farther  to  the  east,  that  extent  of  foreshore  having  been 
gradually  cut  away — even  now  on  a calm  day  portions  of  older  Myla- 
pore can  be  seen  lying  in  the  bed  of  the  sea  ; and  further  there  is 
evidence  that  when  St.  Francis  Xavier  visited  the  place  and  spent 
a month  there,  he  lived  with  the  Portuguese  priest  stationed  there. 
Then  there  was  a house  and  a garden  to  the  east  of  the  tomb  ; the  house 
has  since  disappeared,  engulfed  in  the  sea  with  what  land  once  stood 
between  it  and  the  shore.  The  erosion  still  continues. 


124  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


mentions  that  he  was  put  to  death  by  the  lance.  The 
Latin  Passio  alters  the  account  entirely.  In  this  version 
the  death  of  the  Apostle  occurs  at  a much  earlier  period. 
When  at  the  Apostle’s  prayer  and  bidding  the  idol  in  the 
temple  was  destroyed  (see  Critical  Analysis , &c.,  No.  32), 
‘ The  priest  of  the  temple,  raising  a sword,  transfixed 
the  Apostle,  saying,  I will  avenge  the  insult  to  my  God.’ 

Liturgical  Books  and  Martyrologies  : — 

The  old  Nestorian  Calendar  (quoted  Chap.  II.  p.  23) 
says  [Thomas]  ‘was  pierced  by  a lance  in  India.’ 

The  Jacobite  Breviary:  ‘Pierced  by  a lance  he 
gained  a martyr’s  crown.' 

The  Nestorian  Breviary  : ‘Who  for  the  faith  was  by 
a lance  pierced.’ 

The  other  entries  omit  to  state  how  the  Apostle  was 
put  to  death. 

The  Latin  Church  : — 

No  entry  of  detail  of  death  is  found  earlier  than 
Florus'  addition  to  St.  Bede’s  Martyrology,  of  the  year 
830 : ‘ Pierced  by  a lance  he  died.’ 

The  Greek  Church  : — 

Synaxaris  (Bolland.  SS.,  see  Chap.  II.  p.  66,  second 
quotation) : ‘ Was  killed,  pierced  by  lances.' 

The  Menologium  of  the  Emperor  Basil,  ninth  cen- 
tury ( ut  supr.) : ‘ Pierced  by  a lance  he  was  killed.’ 

Local  version  of  the  martyrdom  prevailing  on  the 
Coromandel  coast,  Mylapore  : 1 — 

Different  reports  of  this  tradition  have  come  down 
to  us.  The  earliest  is  recorded  by  Marco  Polo,  and 

1 The  name  signifies  peacock  town.  The  etymology  given  by 
Yule  is  Mayildppur  : Mayila,  peafowl,  and  pur , the  Indian  suffix 
denoting  place.  Burnell  gives  a different  derivation,  and  thinks  it 
was  probably  Malaippuram,  mount-town ; but  Mylapore  lies  on  a 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS 


125 


that  of  Bishop  John  de’  Marignolli  comes  next.  We 
reproduce  them  from  Yule’s  Marco  Polo , 2nd  ed.,  and 
his  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.  Marco  Polo  [ut  snpr ., 
vol.  ii.  p.  340):  'Now  I will  tell  you  the  manner  in 
which  the  Christian  brethren  who  keep  the  church  relate 
the  story  of  the  Saint’s  death.  They  tell  the  Saint  was 
in  the  wood  outside  his  hermitage  saying  his  prayers, 
and  round  about  him  were  many  peacocks,  for  these 
are  more  plentiful  in  that  country  than  anywhere  else. 
And  one  of  the  idolaters  of  that  country  being  of  the 
lineage  of  those  called  Govi  that  I told  you  of,  having 
gone  with  his  bow  and  arrows  to  shoot  peafowl,  not 
seeing  the  Saint,  let  fly  an  arrow  at  one  of  the  pea- 
cocks ; and  this  arrow  struck  the  holy  man  on  the 
right  side,  insomuch  that  he  died  of  the  wound,  sweetly 
addressing  himself  to  his  Creator.  Before  he  came  to 
that  place  where  he  thus  died,  he  had  been  in  Nubia, 
where  he  converted  much  people  to  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ.’ 

Marignolli's  account  ( Cathay , vol.  ii.  p.  374  f.) : 'The 
third  province  of  India  is  called  Maabar,  and  the  church 
of  Saint  Thomas  which  he  built  with  his  own  hands  is 
there,  besides  another  which  he  built  by  the  agency  of 
workmen.  These  he  paid  with  certain  great  stones 
which  I have  seen  there  and  with  a log  cut  down  at 
Adam's  Mount  in  Seyllan,  which  he  caused  to  be  sawn 
up,  and  from  the  sawdust  other  trees  were  sown.  Now 
that  log,  huge  as  it  was,  was  cut  down  by  two  slaves  of 
his  and  drawn  to  the  seaside  by  the  Saint’s  own  girdle. 
When  the  log  reached  the  sea  he  said  to  it,  "Go  now 
and  tarry  for  us  in  the  haven  of  the  city  of  Mirapolis.” 
It  arrived  there  accordingly,  whereupon  the  King  of  that 

flat  seashore.  The  mount  mentioned  in  the  Acts,  as  the  spot  where 
the  Apostle  was  executed  by  the  king’s  order,  now  called  the  Great 
Mount  St.  Thomas,  never  held  a town.  The  Catalan  map  of  1375 
gives  the  name  Mirapor. 


126  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


place  with  his  whole  army  endeavoured  to  draw  it  ashore, 
but  ten  thousand  men  were  not  able  to  make  it  stir. 
Then  Saint  Thomas  the  Apostle  himself  came  on  the 
ground,  riding  on  an  ass,  wearing  a shirt,  a stole,  a 
mantle  of  peacock  feathers,  and  attended  by  two  great 
lions,  just  as  he  is  painted,  and  called  out,  “Touch 
not  the  log,  for  it  is  mine.”  “ How,”  quoth  the  King, 
“ dost  thou  make  it  out  to  be  thine  ? ” So  the  Apostle, 
loosing  the  cord  wherewith  he  was  girt,  ordered  his 
slaves  to  tie  to  the  log  and  draw  It  ashore.  And  this 
being  accomplished  with  the  greatest  ease,  the  King  was 
converted,  and  bestowed  upon  the  Saint  as  much  land  as 
he  could  ride  round  upon  his  ass.  So  during  the  daytime 
he  used  to  go  on  building  his  churches  in  the  city,  but 
at  night  he  retired  at  a distance  of  three  Italian  miles, 
where  there  were  numberless  peacocks  . . . and  thus 
being  shot  In  the  side  with  an  arrow,  such  as  is  called 
freccia  (so  that  his  wound  was  like  that  in  the  side  of 
Christ  Into  which  he  had  thrust  his  hand),  he  lay  there 
before  his  oratory  from  the  hour  of  complins,  continuing 
throughout  the  night  to  preach,  whilst  all  his  blessed 
blood  was  welling  from  his  side  ; and  in  the  morning  he 
gave  up  his  soul  to  God.  The  priests  gathered  up  the 
earth  with  which  his  blood  had  mingled  and  buried  it 
with  him.’ 

Both  these  early  travellers,  as  well  as  Barbosa,  were 
told  substantially  the  same  tale  concerning  the  Apostle's 
death. 

We  will  add  a further  recital  given  by  Linschoten  1 : 
1 They  say  that  when  S.  Thomas  had  long  preached  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Narsinga,  and  but  little  profitted,  because 
the  Bramenes,  which  are  the  ministers  of  the  Pagodes, 

1 Vol.  i.  chap.  xv.  p.  85  f.  of  the  edition  by  Dr.  Arthur  Coke  Bur- 
nell, Voyage  of  Linschoten  to  the  East  Indies,  Hakluyt  Society, 
London,  1885,  of  A.D.  1584-1589.  Burnell  reproduces  an  early 
English  translation,  placing  within  brackets  interpolations  and  re- 
dundancies. These  have  been  omitted. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  127 

their  false  and  devilish  idols,  sought  all  means  to  hinder 
him.  S.  Thomas  desired  the  King  to  grant  him  a place 
where  to  build  a chappell,  wherein  he  might  pray  and 
instruct  the  people,  which  was  denied  him,  by  the 
means  of  the  Bramenes  and  other  Enchaunters,  wherein 
they  put  their  trust:  but  it  pleased  God  (as  they  say) 
that  a great  tree  or  p^ece  of  wood  fell  into  the  mouth 
of  the  haven  of  the  towne  of  Meliapor,  whereby  neyther 
shippe  nor  boate  could  pass  out,  nor  come  in,  to  the 
King’s  great  hinderance,  and  the  losse  of  the  daylie 
trafique  to  the  towne : whereupon  the  King  assembled 
to  the  number  of  three  hundreth  Elephantes,  to  draw 
the  tree  or  peece  of  wood  by  force  out,  but  all  in 
vaine,  for  he  could  not  do  it:  which  he  perceiving, 
neither  yet  that  all  his  Bramenes  and  Southsayers 
could  give  him  counsell,  he  promised  great  and  large 
rewards  to  him  that  could  devise  any  meanes  for  the 
helping  thereof ; whereupon  the  Apostle  S.  Thomas  went 
unto  the  King  and  told  him  that  he  alone  (if  it  pleased 
him)  could  pull  it  forth,  desiring  no  other  reward  for  his 
paynes,  but  only  the  same  peece  of  wood  to  make  him  a 
chappell  or  house  to  pray  in  : which  the  King  granted, 
although  both  he  and  his  Bramenes  esteemed  it  for  a jest, 
and  laughed  thereat  : wherewith  S.  Thomas  took  his 
girdell,  and  binding  about  the  peece  of  wood,  without 
any  payne  drew  it  out  of  the  river  upon  the  land,  to  the 
great  wonder  of  all  beholders,  specially  of  the  King,  that 
presentlie  gave  him  leave  to  make  his  chappell  of  the 
same  p^ece  of  wood  : through  which  miracle  divers  of 
them  received  Baptisme,  and  became  Christians,  whereby 
the  Bramenes  fell  into  much  lesse  estimation  with  the 
common  people,  in  authoritie  : so  that  they  were  great 
enemies  to  S.  Thomas,  and  by  all  meanes  sought  to  bring 
him  to  his  death,  which  in  the  end  they  performed, 
having  thereunto  persuaded  some  of  the  people,  which 
thrust  him  into  the  backe  b^eing  on  his  kn£es  in  the 


128  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


same  chappell  praying  : which  History  as  yet  is  found 
painted  and  set  in  manie  places  and  churches  of  India 
for  a memorie,’ 

When  the  writer  visited  Mylapore  for  the  first  time, 
he  likewise  was  told  the  story  of  the  peacock,  and  that 
the  incident  had  happened  at  the  Little  Mount,  where  he 
then  was,  as  also  that  the  Apostle  fled  or  was  carried  to 
the  Great  Mount,  where  he  died.  Yet  this  narrative  did 
not  conceal  the  impression  that  the  people  who  were 
recounting  the  event  held  that  the  Apostle  Thomas  was 
killed  for  the  faith.  He  would  premise,  from  the  long 
experience  he  has  had  in  Malabar,  that  the  inner  char- 
acteristics of  the  Southern  Indian  are  nowhere  more  pro- 
minent and  more  clearly  marked  now  than  in  Malabar,  and 
are  more  observable  there  than  they  are  in  the  present- 
day  dwellers  of  the  eastern  coast,  where  a greater  and 
more  constant  contact  with  foreign  races  and  manners  has 
largely  helped  to  round  off,  if  not  efface,  such  peculiarities. 
It  should  at  the  same  time  be  clearly  borne  in  mind  that 
the  inhabitants  of  both  the  southern  coasts  are  of  the 
same  race,  and,  even  in  times  not  so  very  ancient,  used 
the  same  language  and  the  same  writing  on  the  western 
coast  as  on  the  eastern,  even  down  to  the  days  of  our 
early  missionaries ; the  inscriptions  that  have  sur- 
vived in  Malabar,  and  the  early  books  printed,  were 
produced  in  no  other  than  the  ancient  form  of  Tamil 
letters.  The  writer,  then,  clearly  realised  that  those  at 
Mylapore  did  not  intend  to  deny  the  martyrdom ; but 
under  the  plausible  veil  of  the  accidental  flight  of  an 
arrow  having  for  its  object  not  the  peacock  but  the 
person  of  the  Apostle,  he  understood,  they  meant  to 
avert  by  this  device  the  slur,  the  shame,  and  the  dis- 
honour that  would  fall  on  their  town  and  people  did 
they  openly  avow  to  the  stranger  that  the  Apostle  had 
been  done  to  death  by  their  forefathers.  This  view  of 


Little  Mount  St.  Thomas  and  Church 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  129 

the  Mylapore  legend  may  appear  singular  and  fantastic  to 
those  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  native  character, 
thought,  and  ways  in  Southern  India,  but  the  writer  has 
had  more  than  one  instance  to  convince  him  of  the 
truth  of  the  observation  he  here  mentions.  In  fact,  it  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  an  application  of  the  principle 
of  ‘Saving-Face,’  of  which  more  than  one  instance  has 
of  late  been  offered  by  China  in  her  intercourse  with 
Western  nations. 

There  are,  besides,  interesting  variations  and  details 
in  these  narratives  worth  a closer  inspection.  In  the 
first  narrative,  that  of  Marco  Polo,  we  have  : ‘ I will  now 
tell  you  the  manner  in  which  the  Christian  brethren 
who  keep  the  church  relate  the  story  of  the  Saint’s 
death ' ; but  if  we  go  back  to  what  preceded  this  narra- 
tive, i.e.  the  section  quoted  in  a preceding  chapter,  we 
have  what  appears  to  be  a different  view  of  the  case  : 
‘The  Christians  who  go  thither  in  pilgrimage  take  of 
the  earth  from  the  place  where  the  Saint  was  killed,  and 
give  a portion  thereof  to  any  one  who  is  sick  of  a 
quartan  or  tertian  fever,’  &c.  Marignolli  says  the  same  : 

‘ When  this  earth  is  taken  as  a potion  it  cures  diseases, 
and  in  this  manner  open  miracles  are  wrought  both 
among  Christians  and  Tartars  and  Pagans.'  Now,  this 
Christian  practice  applies  to  tombs  of  martyrs,  and  was 
not  certainly  in  the  early  ages  extended  to  the  tombs  of 
holy  persons  who  had  not  died  for  the  faith  ; the  prac- 
tice, in  other  words,  attests  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom. 
Ru  inart  (Acta  Sincera  Martyr,  in  pass  tone  SS.  Epiodii  et 
Alexandri)  writes  : Eorum  sacra  corpora  tempore 
Gregorii  Turonensis  in  crypta  sancti  Joannis  sub  altari 
cum  beati  Irenaei  reliquiis  collocata  erant,  de  quorum 
monumentis , ut  ait  ille  [S.  Gregor.  Turon.]  ‘ de  Gloria 
Martyrum,’  cap.  50,  si  pulverem  cum  fide  colligitur 
extemplo  medetur  infirmis.  St.  Gregory  Nyssen  (Migne, 
P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  xlvi.;  Oper.,  tom.  iii.,  col.  739),  Sermo  in 

I 


130  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

laudern  Sancti  et  magni  martyris  Theodori,  says  : Si  quis 
etiam  pulverem  quo  conditorium,  ubi  martyris  corpus 
quiescit,  obsitum  est,  auferre  permittat,  pro  munere 
pulvis  accipitur  et  tanquam  res  magni  pretii  condenda 
terra  colligitur. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  this  St.  Theodore — 
whose  feast  is  kept  on  the  9th  of  November,  and  who 
was  greatly  venerated  in  the  early  ages,  having  churches 
erected  in  his  honour  in  different  countries,  one  even  in 
the  Forum  at  Rome — though  bearing  a Greek  name,  was 
by  no  means  a Greek.  The  homily  of  Gregory  quoted 
above  gives  a full  account  of  his  martyrdom  and  of  the 
festival  kept  at  the  church  which  enclosed  his  sacred 
remains ; it  had  also  mural  paintings  and  pavement 
decorations  illustrating  his  martyrdom  and  glorious 
triumph  for  the  faith.  The  following  details  are  given  : 
he  enrolled  himself  in  one  of  the  Roman  legions, 
and  suffered  martyrdom  as  a Christian  soldier  at 
Amasia,  the  metropolis  of  Pontus,  a.d.  306.  As  to  the 
country  of  his  birth,  this  is  what  Gregory  reports  : Patria 
praeclara  et  strenuo  huic  viro  estea  regio  quae  ad  solem 
spectat  orientem,  nam  etiam  hie,  sicut  Job,  ex  partibus 
orientalibus  nobilis  est.  The  name  Theodore,  God’s 
gift,  has  its  corresponding  term  in  other  languages  as 
well,  like  Deusdedit  and  Deodatus  in  Latin,  so  also  there 
is  a Syriac  equivalent,  Jaballah.  Theodore  would  appear 
to  belong  to  the  land  beyond  the  Roman  border,  and 
may  have  been  an  Assyrian  : he  must  certainly  have 
been  a Christian  before  his  enlistment  in  the  pagan 
legion  of  the  empire. 

But  to  return  to  our  subject.  While  the  two  first 
narratives  give  internal  evidence  of  the  Apostle’s  martyr- 
dom, the  third  version  of  the  story  is  explicit  on  the 
subject  : ‘ The  Bramenes  were  great  enemies  to  S. 

Thomas,  and  by  all  meanes  sought  to  bring  him  to 
death,  which  in  the  end  they  performed,  having  there- 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  131 


unto  persuaded  some  of  the  people  which  thrust  him 
into  the  backe,  beeing  on  his  knees  in  the  same  chappell 
praying — which  history  as  yet  is  found  painted  and  set 
in  manie  places  and  churches  of  India  for  a memorie/ 
&c.  So  the  ‘Saving-Face’  story  narrated  at  Mylapore 
does  not  deny  the  martyrdom,  and  the  paintings  referred 
to  support  it. 

The  Portuguese  on  arriving  in  India,  unaware  of  the 
historical  data  adduced  above  regarding  the  remains  of 
the  Apostle,  were  wrong  in  supposing  that  the  tomb  at 
Mylapore  yet  held  them.1  This,  however,  would  not 

1 It  will  not  appear  surprising  if  the  learned  Assemani  looked 
upon  the  statement  put  forward  by  some  Portuguese  and  other  writers, 
wrongly  informed,  that  the  Relics  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  were 
discovered  and  found  in  the  Indian  tomb,  Mylapore,  on  the  arrival 
of  the  former.  To  those  who  have  followed  the  historical  and  tradi- 
tional course  of  the  story  of  the  Relics  thus  far  narrated,  the  meaning 
to  be  attached  to  Assemani’s  rejection  of  the  story  referred  to  below, 
will  be  quite  clear  and  self-evident,  viz.,  the  Bones  (not  to  use  the 
misleading  term  corpus , body),  could  not  have  been  found  by  the 
new  European  arrivals  at  Mylapore,  when  it  was  known,  on  undoubted 
evidence,  that  these  Relics  were  in  the  fourth  century  deposited  at 
Edessa.  If  no  other  inference  is  drawn  from  the  statement  there 
would  be  no  further  question.  Mr.  W.  R.  Philipps,  dealing  with  the 
‘Connection  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle  with  India,’  reprint  from 
Indian  Antiquary,  vol.  xxxii.,  1903,  p.  151,  expresses  himself  as 
follows:  ‘The  opinion  of  Assemani,  mentioned  by  Bickell  ...  is 
of  great  weight  in  such  a matter  as  this.  Assemani,  who  wrote  at 
Rome  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  was  perfectly  well  informed ; 
and  no  one  could  be  more  competent  to  pass  judgment  on  the  facts. 
He  deemed  these  Indian  relics  of  St.  Thomas  a Nestorian  fabrication.’ 
Now  this  short  statement,  which  does  not  inform  the  reader  what 
was  Assemani’s  opinion  as  to  St.  Thomas  and  his  connection  with 
India,  is  misleading.  It  has  been  construed  to  mean  that  Assemani 
denied  the  Apostle’s  connection  with  India  ; and  the  change  of  type 
in  the  text  adopted  by  the  printer  to  enforce  the  conclusion  has 
added  an  external  weight  to  the  passage.  If  the  inference  is  drawn 
that,  in  Assemani’s  opinion,  the  Relics  of  St.  Thomas  were  never 
in  India,  it  would  not  only  be  misleading,  but  would  directly  oppose 
the  learned  Orientalist’s  emphatic  statement.  In  the  fourth  volume 
of  his  learned  work,  Bibliotheca  Orientalis,  Rome,  1728,  the  author 
covers  ten  folio  pages  with  his  proofs  in  defence  of  the  Indian  apos- 


132  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


imply  that  a minute  search,  by  screening  the  earth, 
would  not  yet  yield  minor  fragments  of  bone  or  other 
relics.  The  hasty  and  furtive  manner  in  which  the 
Bones  must  have  been  removed  by  the  merchant  Khabin 
would  yet  leave  lesser  relics  in  the  tomb  ; and,  in  fact, 
the  Relic  held  at  the  Cathedral  of  San  Thom6  consists 
of  the  fragment  of  a rib  and  of  the  extreme  point  of  a 
lance,  as  were  shown  and  declared  to  the  writer  by  the 
former  Bishop  of  San  Thome,  the  Right  Rev.  Henrique 
Jos6  Reed  Da  Silva,  since  retired. 

IV. — Traditions  Regarding  the  Apostle 

The  West  Coast  or  Malabar  Traditions . — The  tradi- 
tion universally  accepted  by  the  Saint  Thomas  Christians 
of  this  coast  attest  the  following  points:1  (i)  that 

tolate  of  Thomas,  which  he  establishes  on  the  authority  of  the  Fathers 
in  reply  to  Besnage’s  cavillings.  He  further  adduces  evidence  from 
the  Liturgical  Books  of  the  Syrian  churches,  including  the  Nestorian 
section,  and  of  Syrian  writers,  both  in  proof  of  his  apostolate  as  well 
as  of  his  martyrdom  in  India.  The  corpus — or  Bones — he  points  out, 
were  transferred  from  India  to  Edessa  ; and  he  lays  emphasis  on 
the  fact  that  Syrian,  Greek,  and  Latin  writers  ‘ write  of  the  body  of 
Thomas,  from  the  fourth  century,  as  having  been  removed  to  Edessa 
of  Mesopotamia.’  What  then  does  Assemani  deny  ? He  denies  that 
the  body  was  found  by  the  Portuguese  in  India  ; and  quite  rightly. 
In  mentioning  the  Nestorians  in  this  connection  Assemani  was  misled 
by  statements  published  in  Europe.  The  Nestorians  in  India  knew 
perfectly  well  that  the  Relics  had  been  long  before  removed  elsewhere, 
for  they  had  annually  celebrated  in  India  the  festival  of  the  Removal 
of  these  Relics  on  the  3rd  of  July.  Read  note  p.  134  ; pp.  60-62  ; also 
Theodore’s  statement,  text  and  note,  pp.  74-80. 

1 We  give  a summary  of  the  traditions  found  prevailing  in  India 
at  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  from  their  early  writers  in  support 
of  what  we  say  : — 

Maffei,  Hist.  Ind.  (1st  ed.  1588  ; p.  85  of  reprint,  Coloniae,  1590)  : 
In  Socotram  insulam  . . . fertur  adisse  primum  [Apostolus  Thomas], 
deinde  multis  ibi  factis  christianis  trajecisse  Cranganorem.  . . . 
Colanum  petiit  . . . trans  juga  montium  ad  oram  orientalem  con- 
tendit  . . . Christiana  re  bene  gesta  perrexit  in  Sinas.  ...  In  Coro- 
mandelem  ad  revisendos  . . . neophytos  rediit.  Coromandelis  caput 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  133 


the  Apostle  Saint  Thomas  landed  on  the  Malabar 
coast  at  Kodangulur  (Cranganore)  ; (2)  that  seven 

churches,  or,  more  correctly,  centres  of  Christianity 

et  regia  tunc  erat  urbs  Meliapor.  . . . Inusitatae  magnitudinis  trun- 
cum  in  litus  jecerat  mare  quod  eo  tempore  leucas  fere  decern  ab  urbe 
distabat  . . . apostolus  regi  conditionem  tulisse  fertur  si  truncum 
ilium  sibi  ad  templum  vero  Deo  aedificandum  daret  . . . sese  pro- 
tinus  ad  urbem  attracturum.  . . . Cum  rex  annuisset.  . . . Thomas 
zona  quo  erat  praecinctus  . . . immanem  stipitem  facili  ductu  sequen- 
tem  ...  in  ipso  poemerio  statuit,  &c.  ; he  is  killed  by  the  Brahmins, 
first  stoned,  then  pierced  by  a lance. 

Du  Jarric,  Thesaurus  rerutn  Indicar .,  Coloniae,  1615,  tom.  i.  pp. 
579-583,  repeats  similar  details. 

Gouvea , Jornada,  Lisbon,  1606,  has  a similar  account,  with  some 
reference  to  Nestorian  archives  of  Angamale  in  regard  to  bishops 
sent  to  Socotra  and  China. 

A Portuguese  Report  on  the  Serra,  written  in  1604,  Brit.  Mus. 
Add.  MS.,  9853,  leaf  86  in  pencil  and  525  in  ink,  supports  the 
tradition  of  the  Apostle’s  preaching  at  Socotra,  Malabar,  and  Bisnaga. 
[Bisnagar,  now  in  ruins  and  called  ‘ Hampe,’  in  the  present  Bellary 
district,  is  the  name  of  the  capital  of  the  kings  who,  at  the  arrival  of 
the  Portuguese  in  India,  ruled  over  the  Coromandel  coast  and  held 
Meliapor,  1490-1508  ; hence  that  portion  of  the  eastern  coast  was  by 
them  called  Bisnaga.] 

The  Malabar  Christian  tradition  of  the  arrival  of  St.  Thomas  in 
their  country  is  upheld  by  Colonel  Yule,  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither , 
vol.  i.  p.  75,  note.  After  quoting  the  different  names  Cranganore 
had  borne  at  different  periods— in  the  Apostolic  age  it  was  known 
as  Muziris — he  says:  ‘Cranganore  is  the  seat  of  one  of  the  old 
Malabar  principalities,  and  famous  in  the  early  traditions  of  both 
Jews  and  Christians  on  that  coast.  It  was  there  that,  according  to 
the  former,  the  black  Jews  of  the  tribe  of  Menasseh  first  settled  and 
abode  for  more  than  one  thousand  years  ; it  was  there  that  St. 
Thomas  is  said  to  have  first  preached  on  the  shores  of  India,  and 
there  also  the  Mahommedans  were  first  allowed  to  settle  and  build  a 
mosque.’ 

McCrindle,  in  his  Ptolemy,  London,  1885,  p.  51,  repeats : ‘ Mouziris 
may  unhesitatingly  be  taken  to  represent  the  Muyri  of  “ Muyri-Kodu,” 
which,  says  Yule,  appears  in  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  Malabar 
inscriptions  as  the  residence  of  the  King  of  Kodangalur  or  Kran- 
ganur,  and  is  admitted  to  be  practically  identical  with  that  now 
extinct  city.  It  is  to  Kranganur,  he  adds,  that  all  the  Malabar 
traditions  point  as  their  oldest  seaport  of  renown  ; to  the  Christian 
it  was  the  landing-place  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,’  &c. 


134  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

assigned  to  that  early  period  of  evangelisation,  were 
established  ; of  these  Palur,  Kodangulur,  and  Parur, 
were  in  the  north,  while  the  others  lay  to  the  south  ; 
some  of  these  centres  exist  no  longer,  such  as  Cranga- 
nore,  destroyed  by  the  Dutch ; (3)  that  the  Apostle 
passed  from  Malabar  to  the  Coromandel  coast,  where 
he  suffered  martyrdom  ; (4)  that  at  some  subsequent 
period  a violent  persecution  raged  against  the  Christians 
on  the  Coromandel  coast,  compelling  many  of  them 
to  take  refuge  among  their  brethren  on  the  western 
coast,  where  they  settled  down ; the  Christianity  on 
the  Coromandel  coast  would  thus  appear  to  have  been 
destroyed. 

The  writer  feels  bound  to  lay  strong  emphasis  on 
this  tradition  in  support  of  the  claim  of  Mylapore  to 
hold  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle.  He  is  thoroughly  con- 
vinced— even  quite  apart  from  all  the  evidence  adduced 
in  the  preceding  pages — that  if  the  claim  of  Mylapore 
to  be  the  place  of  the  martyrdom  and  of  the  burial  of 
the  Apostle  was  not  based  on  undeniable  fact,  the  Chris- 
tians of  Malabar  would  never  have  acknowledged  their 
neighbours’  claim  to  hold  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle, 
neither  would  they  ever  be  induced  to  frequent  it  by 
way  of  pilgrimage.  Had  this  been  a case  of  a fictitious 
claim  put  forth  to  secure  public  notoriety  and  import- 
ance, they  would  as  probably  have,  anyway,  set  up  one 
for  themselves,  and  would  have  certainly  ignored  the 
claim  of  the  former.1 

1 To  the  European  scholar  it  may  appear  paradoxical  that  the 
Saint  Thomas  Christians  on  the  west  coast,  Malabar,  kept  the  feast 
of  the  Translation  of  the  Relics  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  from  India 
to  Edessa  on  the  3rd  day  of  July  in  accordance  with  the  Syriac 
Calendar  ; yet  it  is  so  to  this  day.  That  the  festival  had  also 
been  kept  in  India  in  ancient  times  we  have  the  authority  of  the 
Hieronymian  Martyrology,  quoted  in  a preceding  chapter.  The 
Christians  of  the  Syrian  rite  to  this  day  call  it  the  doh&rana,  i.e.  the 
‘translation.’  They  keep  no  feast  of  the  Saint  on  the  21st  of 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  135 


The  tradition  that  the  Apostle  landed  on  the  Malabar 
coast,  coming  by  sea,  is  indirectly  confirmed  by  what 
St.  Francis  Xavier  found  to  be  the  belief  existing  among 
the  Christians  of  the  island  of  Socotra  at  the  time  of  his 
visit,  viz.  that  they  were  the  descendants  of  the  converts 
made  by  the  Apostle  Thomas  (see  below). 

December  ; this  latter  feast  is  kept  in  India  by  the  native  Christians 
on  both  coasts,  the  converts  of  our  Latin  missionaries  subsequent 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Portuguese  on  the  two  coasts.  To  the 
European  mind  this  seems  inexplicable,  and  in  consequence  the 
doubt  has  been  raised  by  some  whether  the  statement  be  true  ; while 
others  have  thought  this  offered  an  argument  to  reject  the  Indian 
apostolate  of  St.  Thomas.  Those  who  have  taken  either  view  have 
only  looked  at  the  question  superficially.  The  question  is,  What 
regulates  the  Liturgy  and  the  Calendar  of  a Church  ? We  answer 
unhesitatingly,  the  Rite  to  which  it  belongs.  If  the  rite  of  the  mis- 
sionary be  the  Latin,  he  will,  as  the  missionaries  of  the  present  day 
practise,  introduce  everywhere  the  Latin  Missal,  Ritual,  and  Calendar. 
If  Greek,  that  of  the  Greek  Church  will  be  adopted.  If  Anglican, 
that  of  the  Church  of  England  as  by  law  established.  So,  if  Syrian, 
that  of  the  respective  section  of  the  Syrian  Church  to  which  he  belongs 
will  be  introduced.  The  first  Christianity  established  by  the  Apostle 
on  the  eastern  coast,  according  to  an  ancient  tradition  of  the 
Christians  of  the  west  coast  (reported  by  Portuguese  writers  and 
mentioned  in  the  Report  of  1604,  Brit.  Mus.),  was  exterminated  at 
an  early  date  by  persecution,  and  many  went  across  and  joined  their 
brethren  on  the  west  coast.  So  there  remained  no  permanently 
established  continuous  Church  at  Mylapore.  When  at  a later  age 
Nestorianism  forcibly  captured  the  episcopal  sees  of  Mesopotamia 
and  Persia,  the  clergy  and  bishops  coming  from  there  to  India  and 
Socotra  brought  with  them  their  own  Rite  (if  it  had  not  already 
pre-existed)  as  well  as  their  heretical  tenets.  This  is  how  the  ancient 
Christians  in  India  came  to  adopt  the  Syrian  Calendar  and  Liturgy 
of  the  Nestorians  ; and  this  is  how,  followed  by  the  priests  they  then 
had,  they  came  to  keep  the  feast  of  the  Apostle  not  on  the  day  of  his 
martyrdom — which  they  no  doubt  would  have  done  had  their  Church 
continued  autonomous  with  a regular  succession  of  clergy  ; but  the 
case  not  being  so,  and  they  having  become  a part  of  the  extreme  eastern 
section  of  the  Church  of  the  Syrian  Rite,  the  Calendar  and  Liturgy 
found  among  them  by  the  Portuguese  was  naturally  that  of  the  Nes- 
torian  Church.  It  is  a safe  axiom — Liturgy  and  Calendar  follow  the 
Rite.  See  Paulinus  k S.  Barthol.,  India  Oriental.  Christ .,  Romae, 
1794,  PP-  I32-33- 


136  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  earliest  mention  of  the  existence  of  Christians 
on  that  island  is  that  by  Philostorgius,  the  Arian 
Church  historian,  in  his  narrative  of  the  mission  of 
Bishop  Theophilus  to  the  Homeritae;  the  reader  will 
find  the  details,  belonging  to  the  year  c.  354,  given  in 
Chapter  V.,  Section  iii. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  before  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century  ( Topographia  Christiana , Migne,  P.  Gr.-L., 
tom.  Ixxxviii.  col.  170),  says:  ‘Similarly  on  the  island 
named  of  Dioscoris  [the  Greek  name  for  Socotra], 
situated  in  the  same  Indian  Ocean,  whose  inhabitants 
speak  Greek,  and  are  a colony  placed  there  by  the 
Ptolemies,  the  successors  of  Alexander  of  Macedon, 
there  are  clergy  ordained  in  Persia  and  sent  there,  and 
a multitude  of  Christians.’ 

The  Arab  travellers  of  the  ninth  century,  whose 
narrative  was  published  by  Reinaud,  with  Arabic  text 
and  a translation  in  French,  in  two  small  volumes,  Paris, 
1845,  mention  Christians  on  the  island  (vol.  i.  p.  130) : 
‘The  same  sea  holds  the  island  of  Socotra.  . . . The 
greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  are  Christians.’ 

Abulfeda  (Reinaud's  Geographic  d’Aboulftda,  Paris, 
1848,  vol.  ii.  pt.  ii.  p.  128):  L'ile  de  Socotora  a quatre- 
vingts  parasanges  de  longueur.  Ses  habitants  sont  des 
chretiens  nestoriens. 

Marco  Polo,  a.d.  1294,  also  mentions  these  Christian 
inhabitants  (vol.  ii.,  ut  supr.,  pp.  398-399)  : ‘ Further 
towards  the  south  you  come  to  an  island  called  Socotra. 
The  people  are  all  baptized  Christians,  and  they  have 
an  Archbishop.’  And  again:  ‘Their  Archbishop  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Pope  of  Rome,  but  is  subject  to 
the  great  Archbishop  who  lives  at  Bandas  [Bagdad]. 
He  rules  over  the  bishop  of  that  island,  and  over  many 
other  bishops  in  those  regions  of  the  world,  just  as  our 
Pope  does  in  these.' 

Assemani  ( Bibl. . Or.,  tom.  ii.  p.  458  ffi.)  gives  two  lists 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  137 

of  the  sees  under  the  Nestorian  Catholicus  or  Patriarch. 
In  the  second,  which  is  that  by  Elias,  a Nestorian  Bishop 
of  Damascus,  the  see  of  Socotra  is  placed  under  the 
Metropolitan  of  Persia,  and  this  appears  to  be  the  older 
of  the  two  lists ; while  in  the  first  list,  that  given  by 
Amr’,  son  of  Matthew,  of  about  A.D.  1349  (/>/£/.  Or .,  tom.  ii. 
p.  425),  Socotra  is  placed  as  the  eleventh  Metropolitan 
see  under  the  name  of  Katraba.  No  date  can  be  assigned 
to  the  authorship  of  the  first  list.  Lequien  ( Oriens  Chris- 
tiana, tom.  ii.  col.  1290)  mentions  the  transfer  of  one 
Elias  from  the  see  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Nestorian  Metro- 
politan see  of  Damascus  in  the  year  893,  but  concludes  : 
Plane  Eliam,  tabulae  et  nomocanonis  auctorem,  illo  de 
quo  nunc  est  sermo  recentiorem  duxero.1 

Nicolo  Conti,  c.  1435,  visited  Socotra  and  spent  two 
months  there  (R.  H.  Major's  India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century, 
London,  Hakluyt  Society,  1857,  p.  20  of  narrative) : 
‘This  island  produces  Socotrine  aloes,  is  six  hundred 
miles  in  circumference,  and  is,  for  the  most  part,  in- 
habited by  Nestorian  Christians.’ 

The  evidence  of  the  local  tradition  mentioned  before 
is  contained  in  St.  Francis  Xavier’s  letter  written  from. 
Goa,  18th  September  1542,  to  the  Society  at  Rome 
(Coleridge’s  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Francis  Xavier, 
London,  1872,  vol.  i.  p.  117).  As  the  Saint  gives  the 
last  full  account  of  the  state  of  Christianity  on  the 
island  before  its  entire  disappearance,  we  make  no 
apology  for  reproducing  it  in  full  : — 

‘After  sailing  from  Melinda  we  touched  at  Socotra, 
an  island  about  a hundred  miles  in  circumference.  It 
is  a wild  country  with  no  produce,  no  corn,  no  rice, 
no  millet,  no  wine,  no  fruit  trees  ; in  short,  altogether 

1 Elias,  the  author  of  the  list,  is  styled  the  bishop  of  Damascus 
by  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.,  vol.  ii.  p.  391,  and  in  Index  ad  verb.,  but  at 
p.  458  he  calls  him  the  archbishop  of  the  see.  For  further  details 
regarding  the  see  of  Socotra,  see  vol.  iv.  p.  602,  of  same  work. 


138  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

sterile  and  arid,  except  that  it  has  plenty  of  dates,  out 
of  which  they  make  bread,  and  also  abounds  in  cattle. 
The  island  is  exposed  to  great  heat  from  the  sun  ; the 
people  are  Christian  in  name  rather  than  in  reality, 
wonderfully  ignorant  and  rude  : they  cannot  read  or 
write.  They  have  consequently  no  records  of  any  kind. 
Still  they  pride  themselves  on  being  Christians.  They 
have  churches,  crosses,  and  lamps.  Each  village  has 
its  Caciz  [Syriac  term  for  priest ; correctly  Kashiska\, 
who  answer  to  the  Parish  Priest.  These  Caciz  know 
no  more  of  reading  or  writing  than  the  rest ; they  have 
not  even  any  books,  and  only  know  a few  prayers  by 
heart.  They  go  to  their  churches  dour  times  a day — 
at  midnight,  at  day-break,  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  the 
evening.  They  use  no  bells  ; but  wooden  rattles,  such 
as  we  use  during  holy  week,  to  call  the  people  together. 
Not  even  the  Caciz  themselves  understand  the  prayers 
which  they  recite  ; which  are  in  a foreign  language  (I 
think  Chaldean).  They  render  special  honours  to  the 
Apostle  St.  Thomas,  claiming  to  be  descendants  of  the 
Christians  begotten  to  Jesus  Christ  by  that  Apostle  in 
these  countries.  In  the  prayers  I have  mentioned  they 
often  repeat  a word  which  is  like  our  Alleluia.  The 
Caciz  never  baptize  any  one,  nor  do  they  know  the  least 
what  baptism  is.  Whilst  I was  there  I baptized  a 
number  of  children,  with  the  utmost  good  will  of  the 
parents.  Most  of  them  showed  great  eagerness  to  bring 
their  children  to  me,  and  made  such  liberal  offerings 
out  of  their  poverty  of  what  they  had  to  give,  that  I 
have  been  afraid  to  refuse  the  dates  which  they  pressed 
upon  me  with  such  great  good  will.  They  also  begged 
me  over  and  over  again  to  remain  with  them,  promising 
that  every  single  person  in  the  island  would  be  baptized. 
So  I begged  the  Governor  to  let  me  remain  where  I 
found  a harvest  so  ripe  and  ready  to  be  gathered  in. 
But  as  the  island  has  no  Portuguese  garrison,  and 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  139 

it  is  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  Mussulmans,  the 
Governor  would  not  hear  of  leaving  me,  fearing  that 
I might  be  carried  off  as  a slave.  So  he  told  me  that 
I should  soon  be  among  other  Christians  who  were 
not  less,  perhaps  more,  in  need  than  the  Socotrians  of 
instruction  and  spiritual  assistance,  and  amongst  whom 
my  work  would  be  better  spent. 

‘One  day  I went  to  Vespers  as  recited  by  the  Caciz  ; 
they  lasted  an  hour.  There  was  no  end  to  their  repeti- 
tions of  prayers  and  incensations ; the  churches  are 
always  full  of  incense.  Though  their  Caciz  have  wives, 
they  are  extremely  strict  in  regard  to  abstinence  and 
fasting.  When  they  fast  they  abstain  not  only  from 
flesh  meat  and  milk,  but  from  fish  also,  of  which  they 
have  a great  supply.  So  strict  is  their  rule  that  they 
would  rather  die  than  taste  anything  of  the  kind.  They 
eat  nothing  but  vegetables  and  palm  dates.  They  have 
two  Lents,  during  which  they  fast ; one  of  these  lasts 
two  months.  If  any  one  is  profane  enough  to  eat  meat 
during  that  time,  he  is  not  allowed  to  enter  the  church. 

‘ In  the  village  there  was  a Mussulman  woman,  the 
mother  of  two  young  children.  Not  knowing  that  their 
father  was  Mussulman,  I was  going  to  give  them  baptism, 
when  they  ran  off,  all  of  a sudden,  to  their  mother  to 
complain  that  I was  trying  to  baptize  them.  The  mother 
came  to  say  that  she  would  never  let  me  baptize  her 
children.  She  was  a Mahommedan,  and  would  never 
have  her  children  made  Christians.  Upon  this  the 
people  of  Socotra  began  to  cry  out  that  the  Mussulmans 
were  unworthy  of  so  great  a blessing  ; that  they  would 
not  let  them  be  baptized  however  much  they  desired  it, 
and  that  they  would  never  permit  any  Mussulman  to  be- 
come a Christian.  Such  is  their  hatred  of  Mussulmans.’ 

The  customs  described  as  prevailing  among  the 
Christians  of  the  island  are  those  peculiar  to  Nestorian 
Christians. 


140  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  Carmelite  Friar  Vincenzo  Maria  di  Santa  Cata- 
rina ( Viaggio  alle  Indie  Orientali , Venezia,  1683,  lib.  v. 
cap.  ix.  p.  472),  describing  the  state  of  the  island  on  his 
voyage  home  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, found  Christianity  quite  extinct,  with  but  some  faint 
traces  of  Christian  names  yet  lingering. 

The  Apostle  Thomas,  prior  to  his  going  to  Socotra, 
is  said  to  have  traversed  the  Ethiopia  of  old,  preaching 
the  faith  through  the  country  known  subsequently  as 
Nubia.  That  he  had  preached  to  the  K us  kites  (the 
Semitic  name  for  Ethiopians)  more  than  one  testimony 
has  been  adduced  in  Chapter  II.  from  the  Liturgical 
Books  of  the  Syrian  Church.  Marco  Polo  mentions  also 
the  tradition  in  the  quotation  given  above  (p.  125),  and 
says  that  mission  preceded  his  to  India — so  he  had 
learnt  from  the  Christians  on  the  Coromandel  coast. 
An  echo  of  this  tradition  is  also  found  in  Sermo  in 
Sanctos  xii.  Apostolos  (tom.  viii.  p.  11,  Oper.  S.  Joan. 
Chrysost .,  Parisiis,  1728),  wrongly  attributed  to  this 
Doctor  : ‘ On  one  side  Peter  instructs  Rome ; on 

another,  Paul  announces  the  Gospel  to  the  world ; 
Andrew  chastens  the  learned  of  Greece  ; Simon  con- 
veys the  knowledge  of  God  to  the  barbarians  ; Thomas 
cleanses  the  Ethiopians  by  baptism;  Judea  honours  the 
chair  of  James,’  &C.1 

There  appears  to  be  a fixed  idea  in  the  minds  of 
some  in  connection  with  the  preachings  of  the  Apostles, 

1 An  unsupported  tradition  says  also  that  the  Apostle  visited 
the  Magi  who,  guided  by  the  mysterious  star,  came  to  Bethle- 
hem to  pay  their  adoration  to  the  new-born  Saviour,  and  baptized 
them.  The  passage  is  found  in  ‘ Opus  imperfectum  incerti  auctoris  ’ 
apud  Chrysost.,  tom.  vi.,  ut  supr.,  p.  xxviii.,  Commentar.  in  Matth ., 
now  held  to  be  the  work  of  an  Arian  of  the  fifth  century  : Denique 
cum  post  resurrectionem  Domini  Thomas  apostolus  isset  in  pro- 
vinciam  illam  ubi  reges  Stella  Bethlehem  ducti  degebant  adjunct! 
sunt  ei,  et  baptizati  ab  eo  facti  sunt  adjutores  praedicationis  illius. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  141 


that  after  their  dispersion  to  carry  out  the  mandate  given 
them  by  their  Divine  Master,  they  remained  permanently 
in  that  country  and  its  vicinity,  to  which  each  had 
mutually  agreed  to  go,  and  that  practically  they  visited 
no  other  locality.  Such  an  opinion  is  based  on  no 
authority,  but  is  the  mere  outcome  of  a self-formed 
conception  of  things  untested  by  such  evidence  as  we 
have  bearing  on  the  subject.  The  mandate  itself  was 
to  go  forth  and  preach  unto  all  nations,  Matt,  xxviii.  19, 
Going , teach  ye  all  nations ; Mark  xvi.  15,  Go  ye  into  the 
whole  ivor Id  and  preach  the  Gospel ; Luke  xxiv.  47, 
Penance  and  the  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached 
in  His  name  unto  all  nations , beginning  at  Jerusalem ; 
Acts  i.  8,  You  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria , and  even  to  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth. 

This  implied  that  after  His  ascension  they  should 
tarry  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem  for  some 
considerable  time  to  fulfil  the  mission  entrusted  to 
them  ‘ beginning  at  Jerusalem,’  viz.  ‘ to  Jerusalem, 
all  Judea  and  Samaria,'  before  their  dispersion.  This 
will  be  found  confirmed  also  by  Peter,  when  Acts  x.  42 
is  read  with  its  context.  If  we  test  history  as  has 
come  down  to  us  regarding  the  separate  preachings  of 
the  Apostles,  the  fact  that  they  were  not  tied  down  to 
any  one  country  or  nation  will  appear  evident.  They 
were  the  sowers  of  the  Gospel  seed,  and  the  Master 
who  had  prepared  the  ground  to  receive  that  seed  sent 
them  to  sow  it  broadcast  all  over  the  world.  They  were 
the  heralds  of  the  new  Gospel,  which  it  was  incumbent 
on  them  to  announce  to  every  living  being.  Thus,  of 
Peter  we  know  that  besides  being  specially  the  Apostle 
of  the  Circumcision,  he  practically  traversed  all  Western 
Asia  from  Palestine  to  the  Black  Sea,  and  from  Antioch 
of  Syria  to  Pontus.  His  first  letter,  written  from  Rome, 
which  he  styles  Babylon  because  of  its  depravity  and 


142  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

corruption,  was  addressed  to  his  first  converts  residing 
in  ‘ Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia,’ 
geographically  comprising  the  whole  area  above  men- 
tioned. Certain  passages  of  the  letter  indicate  clearly 
that  these  primitive  Christian  converts  had  already 
commenced  to  experience  the  hardships  of  persecution, 
and  that  in  its  cruellest  form,  torture  by  fire,  it  should 
be  noted  that  the  whole  of  that,  section  of  country  was 
under  Roman  sway,  for  he  openly  mentions  (chap.  iv. 
1-5,  12-16)  ‘sufferings  in  the  flesh'  which  some  had 
already  endured,  and  warns  them  that  they  must  ‘ not 
think  it  strange  ’ if  they  were  to  be  ‘ tried  by  burning 
heat  ’ ; this  implies  that  fire  was  already  resorted  to, 
to  add  the  acuteness  of  anguish  to  the  Christian's  suf- 
ferings for  his  faith.  It  should  also  be  kept  in  mind 
that  a large  portion  of  this  section  of  Asia  likewise 
formed  the  special  field  of  the  Apostle  Paul’s  labours 
as  described  in  the  Acts. 

After  this  extensive  course  of  apostolic  preachings, 
Peter  went  to  Italy  and  fixed  his  seat  at  Rome,  yet  so 
as  to  make  excursions  into  other  fields  as  well.1 

1 The  first  persecution  against  the  Church  raised  by  the 
Emperor  Nero,  during  which  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  and  a host 
of  first  converts  to  the  faith  suffered  martyrdom,  may  here  be 
briefly  told 

Under  secret  orders  from  Nero,  and  for  his  personal  gratification 
to  witness  a great  scene  of  horror  and  tragedy,  it  was  devised  to  set 
fire  to  a part  of  the  city  of  Rome.  The  scene  occurred  on  the  19th 
of  July,  a.d.  64  ; the  fearful  conflagration  lasted  some  nine  days,  and 
it  consumed  the  greater  portion  of  the  city.  Gibbon  says  that  of  the 
fourteen  regiones , or  quarters  into  which  the  city  was  divided,  four 
only  escaped  the  fire,  three  were  levelled  to  the  ground,  the  other 
seven  presented  a melancholy  scene  of  ruin  and  desolation.  The 
monuments  of  Greek  and  Roman  art,  the  trophies  of  the  Punic  and 
Gallic  wars,  the  most  sacred  temples,  with  their  shrines,  votive  offer- 
ings, and  paraphernalia  for  the  services  of  the  State  religion,  were  all 
consumed.  The  people,  burnt  out  of  house  and  home,  crowded  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Campus  Martius,  where,  under  the  tyrant’s  orders, 
sheds  were  erected  to  shelter  them,  and  bread  and  provisions  dis- 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  143 

John  again,  who  had  been  somewhat  tied  down  to 
Ephesus  because  of  the  charge  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  en- 
trusted to  him  by  our  Lord,  after  the  demise  of  the  Blessed 
Mother  of  God,  is  known  to  have  travelled  to  Italy  and 

tributed.  But,  angered  and  enraged  as  the  populace  were  at  the  loss 
and  destruction  of  their  property,  the  rumour  that  the  emperor  had 
purposely  come  from  Antium  to  witness  the  scene  and  that  it  had 
been  got  up  for  his  amusement,  excited  them  to  such  a pitch  that 
they  threatened  the  emperor.  Hence  every  step  was  taken  to 
appease  the  popular  rage  ; an  inquiry  was  set  on  foot  to  ascertain  the 
origin  of  the  fire,  and  thus  to  divert  attention  from  the  suspicions  that 
had  been  raised  against  the  emperor. 

The  inquiry  established  that  the  fire  originated  at  the  covered 
stalls  of  the  Circus  Maximus  frequented  by  Eastern  traders  and  that 
the  quarter  in  the  vicinity’of  Porta  Capena,  occupied  by  the  Jews,  had 
escaped  the  conflagration.  These  circumstances  would  tend  to  throw 
suspicion  on  the  Jews,  the  more  so  because  of  their  irreconcilable 
attitude  to  the  national  worship.  This,  coupled  with  the  destruction 
of  the  fanes  and  temples  by  the  fire,  was  exploited  to  fix  the  blame 
more  definitely  on  this  alien  element  of  the  population.  The  Jews 
held  important  positions  in  the  court  of  the  emperor,  and  exercised 
great  influence  in  the  city  ; so,  to  divert  adroitly  all  suspicion  from 
their  body,  they  cast  it  on  the  believers  of  the  new  faith,  whom  they 
hated  most  intensely.  The  cry  was  thus  turned  against  the  Christians — 
people  of  an  unknown,  mysterious  faith,  who  seemed,  even  more  than 
the  Jews,  to  keep  aloof  from  Roman  life,  its  social  intercourse  and 
amusements.  The  cry  once  raised  was  taken  up  rapidly,  the  most 
absurd  popular  rumours  regarding  Christians,  their  practices  and 
beliefs,  were  spread  and  accepted  by  the  exasperated  multitude. 
The  emperor,  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  divert  all  suspicion  from  his 
own  person,  and  anxious  to  throw  a victim  to  popular  fury,  did  his 
best  to  appease  and  conciliate  the  people.  He,  in  consequence,  threw 
open  the  imperial  gardens,  which  occupied  the  present  sites  of  the 
Vatican  and  the  adjoining  Borgo,  and  ordered  games  and  sports  to 
be  got  up  there  for  the  people’s  amusement.  It  was  then  that  the 
alleged  guilt  of  the  Christians  offered  the  opportunity  of  making 
them  subjects  of  popular  sport.  In  the  morning  sports  they  were 
brought  out  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  pushed  into  the 
arena  to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  the  dogs  set  at  them.  In  the  evening  the 
park  was  lit  up  by  a novel  feature  of  horror,  never  heard  of  before  or 
since.  Christians  were  covered  with  skins  or  other  absorbent  wrap- 
pings, steeped  with  oil  and  tar,  tied  to  posts,  and  set  on  fire. 

This  is  what  Tacitus  tells  us  of  these  inhuman  scenes  ( Aunales , 
xv.  44) : ‘The  confession  of  those  who  were  seized  (viz.,  the  Chris- 


144  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

to  have  gone  to  Rome,  where  both  Peter  and  Paul  had 
taken  up  the  government  of  that  Church,  and  there,  at 
the  ‘ Porta  Latina,'  became  a confessor  of  the  faith 
by  undergoing  the  ordeal  of  being  plunged  into  a 

tians)  disclosed  a great  multitude  of  their  accomplices,  and  they  were 
all  jointly,  not  so  much  for  the  crime  of  setting  fire  to  the  city  as  for 
their  hatred  of  human  kind,  condemned  to  death.  They  died  in 
torments,  and  their  torments  were  embittered  by  insult  and  derision. 
Some  were  nailed  to  crosses,  others,  sewn  in  skins  of  wild  beasts, 
were  exposed  to  the  fury  of  dogs ; others  again,  smeared  with  in- 
flammable materials,  served  the  purpose  of  torches  to  illuminate  the 
darkness  of  night.  The  gardens  of  Nero  were  utilised  for  the 
melancholy  spectacle,’  &c.  These  are  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  first  general  persecution  broke  out  against  the  Church,  and  this  is 
how  the  first  martyrs  were  done  to  death. 

Let  us  now  hear  what  some  witness  from  the  body  of  these  Chris- 
tians, and  a chief  amongst  them,  has  to  tell  us  as  to  the  cause  and 
motives  of  this  outbreak  of  ferocity.  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  Epist.  I, 
cap.  v-vi,  referring  to  the  cause  of  the  persecution,  says  it  was  hi  a 
(ff\ov  tyOovov — ‘owing  to  envy  and  animosity  indicating  thereby 
the  feelings  and  the  motive  which  guided  the  Jews  to  cast  the  blame 
of  the  conflagration  on  the  Christians.  Of  Peter  he  says  : ‘ Because 
of  this  (envy  and  hatred)  Peter  suffered  not  once  or  twice  but  often, 
and  so  through  martyrdom  passed  to  his  crown  of  glory.’  On  account 
of  the  same  envy  and  hatred,  ‘Paul,  under  the  prefects  [sub  Tegelino 
et  Nymphidio  Sabino]  suffered  martyrdom.’  Then,  passing  to  the 
great  body  of  the  faithful,  he  adds  : ‘ To  these  holy  men  who  showed 
the  way  to  life  was  joined  a great  multitude  of  the  elect  who  suffered 
executions  and  tortures,  leaving  unto  us  a noble  example.  Because 
of  this  animosity  women  [dressed  up  as]  Danaides  and  Dirces,  after 
suffering  dreadful  and  monstrous  indignities,  persevered  to  the  end  ; 
and  though  feeble  of  body  secured  the  great  reward.’  This  persecu- 
tion broke  out  at  the  beginning  of  August,  a.d.  64.  The  martyrdoms 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  A.D.  64-66,  were  but  separate  incidents 
in  the  long  course  of  its  events.  See  Tacitus,  ut  supr.;  Dom  H. 
Leclerq,  Les  Martyrs , vol.  1.,  Les  Temps  Neronnie?is  : Paris,  1902. 

In  the  days  of  the  Apostles  there  stood  prominent  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Coliseum  a huge  statue  of  Nero.  The  site  was  not  exactly 
known,  but  during  recent  excavations  and  researches  made  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  present  church  of  Santa  Francesca  Romana,  the  site 
of  the  statue  appears  to  be  ascertained.  The  campanile  of  the  church 
is  said  to  occupy  almost  exactly  the  spot  where  had  stood  that  statue 
of  ‘ Nero-Helios,’  a standing  bronze-gilt  figure,  120  feet  high,  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  atrium  of  the  ‘ Golden-House.’ 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  145 


caldron  of  boiling  oil.1  As  these  had  done,  so  other 
Apostles,  Thomas  among  them,  must  have  acted. 

It  should  therefore  not  appear  surprising  if  ancient 
tradition  reports  Thomas  to  have  preached  to  many 
nations.  Barhebraeus  ( Chron . Eccl.,  iii.  4-6)  records 
the  tradition  of  the  East  : ‘ He  evangelised  many 

peoples,  the  Parthians,  Medes,  Persians,  Carabeans 
[read  Karmanians],  Bactrians,  Margians,  and  Indians.’ 
Sophronius  the  Greek  {apud  Hieron.  De  viris  illustr., 
Appendix  v.)  has  the  following:  ‘The  Apostle  Thomas, 
as  has  been  handed  down  to  us,  preached  the  gospel 
of  the  Lord  to  the  Parthians,  Medes,  Persians,  Car- 
manians,  Hyrcanians,  Bactrians,  Magians  (or  Mar- 
gians).’ 

St.  John  Chrysostom  has  the  following  significant 
passage  (Horn.  62,  alias  61,  Oper.,  ed.  Montfaucon, 
Parisiis,  1728,  tom.  viii.  p.  370):  ‘They  (the  Apostles)  all 
feared  the  attack  of  the  Jews,  most  of  all  Thomas  ; hence 
he  said,  Let  us  go  and  die  with  him.  Some  say  he  wished 

1 This  occurred  when  the  persecution  of  Domitian  was  at  its 
height,  and  he  suffered  at  Rome  in  the  year  95  near  the  site  named 
afterwards,  when  enclosed  within  the  walls  commenced  by  Aurelian 
in  271,  ‘Porta  Latina.’  These  are  the  words  in  which  Tertullian 
{De  Praescil  Haeres.,  36)  describes  the  occurrence : ‘ O glorious 
Church  of  Rome  ! . . . where  John  plunged  in  boiling  oil  suffered  no 
harm,  and  was  immediately  sent  into  exile  to  an  island  ’ [Patmos].  St. 
Jerome,  De  viris  illustr.,  cap.  ix.,  adds  : ‘ After  the  death  of  Domitian 
and  the  cancelling  of  the  cruel  edicts  of  his  reign  in  that  of  Nerva, 
John  was  able  to  return  to  the  city  of  Ephesus,’  in  a.d.  97.  Eusebius 
has  the  same  {Hist.  Eccl.,  iii.  18)  ; here  he  organised  the  churches  in 
Asia,  and  survived  till  the  time  of  Trajan  (Euseb.,  H.  E.,  iii.  23,  quoting 
Irenaeus).  St.  Epiphanius,  Haeres .,  li.,  n.  12,  says  he  was  past  ninety 
years  when  he  returned  from  exile.  Polycrates,  bishop  of  Ephesus, 
writing  to  Pope  Victor,  c.  A.D.  180,  says  that  John  died  and  was 
buried  at  Ephesus.  The  Council  of  Ephesus,  A.D.  431,  in  their  letter 
also  attest  the  burial  at  Ephesus.  Tillemont,  Memoir.  Hist.  Eccl.,  i, 
article  x.  p.  350,  ed.  ut  supr.,  maintains  that  his  body  yet  reposes  in 
the  church  dedicated  to  his  honour  at  Ephesus  [perhaps  now  a 
mosque].  Nothing,  at  any  rate,  is  now  known  regarding  it. 


146  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

to  die  ; but  it  is  not  so,  for  he  rather  spoke  through  fear. 
But  he  was  not  rebuked  ; his  weakness  was  yet  tolerated. 
Eventually  he  certainly  became  the  most  adventurous 
and  irrepressible.  It  is,  indeed,  wonderful,  that  he  who 
before  the  crucifixion  was  feeble,  after  the  cross  and 
faith  in  the  resurrection,  should  be  the  most  fervent  of 
all.  So  great  is  the  power  of  Christ ! He  who  was 
afraid  to  go  to  Bethania  with  Christ,  he,  deprived  of 
the  presence  of  Christ,  travelled  almost  the  whole  in- 
habited world  — outo?  top  'xplarov  ou%  opwv  otceBoP  ttjp 
oiKopp-evrjp  BieBpape  [lit.  he,  not  seeing  Christ,  almost  all 
the  inhabited  world  traversed] ; was  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  bloodthirsty  races,  who  sought  to  take  his  life,’  &c. 
This  implies  that  this  Doctor  of  the  Church  was  fully 
cognisant  that,  according  to  the  tradition  handed  down, 
Thomas  was  the  most  travelled  of  all  the  Apostles ; 
this  the  quotations  adduced  specify  in  detail,  and  they 
should  go  a long  way  to  uphold  the  traditional  record 
that  has  come  down  to  us. 

While  these  sheets  were  passing  through  the  press 
an  additional  piece  of  traditional  evidence,  anterior  to 
any  quoted  above,  comes  to  hand  furnished  by  the 
Gospel  of  the  XII.  Apostles,  recovered  from  different 
Coptic  papyrus  and  other  texts.  This  apocryphal 
Gospel  cannot  be  placed  among  those  St.  Luke  had 
in  view  when  he  wrote  : ‘ Many  have  taken  in  hand  to 
set  forth  in  order  a narration  of  the  things  which  have 
been  accomplished  amongst  us’  (Luke  i.  1),  for  it  makes 
free  use  of  the  texts  of  the  four  canonical  Gospels,  lean- 
ing chiefly  on  that  of  John,  and  also  refers  to  the  Apoca- 
lypse, in  its  rendering  of  the  history  of  the  last  three 
years  of  Jesus.  It  was  thus  of  a later  date;  the  chief 
narrator  of  events  is  a pseudo-Gamaliel.  Though  no 
precise  date  can  yet  be  fixed  for  this  compilation,  not 
unknown  to  early  Christian  writers,  it  will  probably 
not  be  later  than  the  second  century.  Our  quotation 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS 


147 


from  the  text  is  taken  from  M.  Eugene  Revillout’s 
paper  ( Revue  Biblique , 1904,  April  and  July  numbers, 
p.  324).  The  second  fragment  of  the  text  contains  a 
special  blessing  bestowed  on  Peter,  and  subsequently 
on  each  of  the  other  Apostles.  As  the  full  text  has 
not  yet  appeared,  we  avail  ourselves  of  what  the  writer 
has  reproduced  in  the  article.  After  giving  textually 
the  words  of  the  blessing  bestowed  on  Peter,  he  says  : 
Apres  il  donne  une  benediction  speciale  a chacun  des 
apotres.  Notons  seulement  que,  pour  saint  Thomas  qui 
doutait  toujours,  il  est  annonce  que  sa  foi  serait 
desormais  un  aigle  de  lumiere  qui  volerait  dans  tous 
les  pays  jusqu’a  ce  qu’ils  croient  en  leur  Sauveur,  &c. 
The  text  contains  many  extra-canonical  statements  ; and 
what  is  produced  here  is  a post-factum  statement,  em- 
bodied in  the  words  of  the  blessing,  of  what  Thomas 
was  to  have  done  as  an  apostle,  viz. : ‘To  the  doubting 
Thomas  it  was  said  that  his  faith  would  henceforth  be 
an  eagle  of  light  that  would  fly  to  all  countries  until 
the  peoples  would  believe  in  their  Saviour.’  This  would 
not  have  been  written  of  Thomas  unless  tradition  had 
already  reported  that  he  had  visited  nearly  ‘ the  whole 
inhabited  world’  in  the  course  of  his  apostolic  career. 
The  passage,  in  other  words,  reflects  a much  earlier 
tradition  of  fact,  of  which  Chrysostom  has  left  the 
written  record  which  has  been  quoted  above. 

We  will  now  sum  up  the  traditional  record  of  the 
Apostle  Thomas  : (1)  He  would  have  preached  through 
the  whole  of  that  tract  of  country  lying  south  of  the 
Caspian  Sea — the  ‘Mare  Hyrcanum'  of  his  days — east 
of  the  mountain  range  of  Armenia  and  of  the  Tigris, 
down  to  Karmania  in  Southern  Persia.  (2)  It  would 
be  during  this  first  apostolic  tour  that  he  came  in 
contact  with  the  north-western  corner  of  India  at  Gon- 
dophares’  court.  (3)  After  the  demise  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  when,  according  to  ecclesiastical  tradition, 


148  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

the  second  dispersion  of  the  Apostles  took  place,1 
Thomas  commenced  his  second  apostolic  tour.  Pro- 
bably from  Palestine  he  travelled  into  Northern  Africa, 
and  thence,  preaching  through  Ethiopia,  he  passed  on  to 
Socotra,  where  he  must  have  stayed  some  time  to  estab- 
lish the  faith.  Going  thence,  he  would  have  landed  on 
the  west  coast  of  India.  It  is  not  necessary  to  hold  that 
he  first  landed  at  Cranganore  ; he  may  have  landed  pre- 
viously anywhere  to  the  north  of  the  present  Mangalore, 
if  it  so  pleased  him.  But,  in  any  such  case,  the  fluvial 
configuration  of  the  land  between  Mangalore  and  Cali- 
cut would,  in  all  probability,  have  rendered  travelling 
by  land  along  that  coast  impracticable  at  that  age,  and 
would  have  compelled  his  taking  to  sea  again  to  make  a 
landing  farther  down  the  coast.  At  any  rate,  as  in  those 
days  Kodangulur — the  epnropiov — of  the  Greek  and 

1 The  tradition  that  the  Apostles,  by  some  supernatural  inter- 
vention, received  intimation  to  assemble  at  the  dwelling  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  Mother  of  Jesus,  before  her  demise,  is,  like  other  sound  eccles- 
iastical traditions,  based  on  a solid  foundation.  The  undermentioned 
are  some  of  the  authorities  in  support  of  it  : — 

I.  — St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  A.D.  590,  In  Gloria  Martyrum,  lib.  1.  c. 
4,  p.  489,  pars  ii.  vol.  1,  ed.  Arndt  et  Krusch,  Hannoverae,  1885  : 
Denique  impleto  beata  Maria  hujus  vitae  cursu,  cum  jam  vocaretur  a 
saeculo,  congregati  sunt  omnes  apostoli  de  singulis  regionibus  ad 
domum  eius. 

II.  — Modestus,  Archbishop  of  Jerusalem,  a.d.  631-634,  Migne, 
P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  lxxxvi.,  col.  3300,  Encomium  in  dormitionem  Deiparae 
Virginis  Marine , sec.  ix.  : Divini  Apostoli  ex  omni  terra,  quae  sub 
sole  est,  properarunt  vi  superna  ducti  et  impulsi,  ut  earn  invenirent 
sanctissimam  matrem,  per  quam  electi  a Christo  digni  facti  sunt,  qui 
in  Spiritu  Sancto  apostolatum,  sanctissimam  omnium  quae  a Deo 
tribuuntur,  dignitatem  assequerentur  : quae  prope  erat  ut  conseque- 
retur  et  perciperet  in  caelis  ipsius  bona,  quae  nec  oculus  vidit  nec 
auris  audivit  nec  in  cor  hominis  ascenderunt  (1  Cor.  ii.  9),  quae  per 
ipsam  humano  generi  sunt  donata. 

III.  — Andrew,  Archbishop  of  Crete.  He  is  said  to  be  the  author 
of  the  new  style  of  hymns  called  Cations , introduced  in  the  Liturgy 
of  the  Greek  Church.  He  appears  to  have  lived  a long  life  ; first 
known  as  secretary  to  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  promoted  in  711 
to  the  see  of  Crete,  and  died  c.  720  (lived  668-720).  He  has  left  three 


Stained  Glass  in  Portal,  Church  of  Notre  Dame,  Semur,  Cote  d’Or  (France) 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  149 

Roman  geographers,  was  the  principal  port  of  the  coast, 
it  would  be  precisely  there  that  he  would  land — and 
this  is  what  the  traditions  existing  in  Malabar  demand. 
(4)  From  Malabar  the  Apostle  would  find  no  difficulty 
in  crossing  over  to  the  Coromandel  coast.  He  might 
easily  travel  by  any  one  of  the  several  passes  across 
the  Ghauts  known  and  regularly  used  by  the  natives 
in  ancient  times  for  intercourse  between  both  coasts, 
as  being  the  shorter  and  the  less  dangerous  route  for 
such  communication.  (5)  It  would  be  on  the  Coro- 
mandel coast  that  he  ended  his  apostolic  labours.  This 
is  upheld  by  the  joint  traditions  of  the  Christians  of  the 
Coromandel  and  the  Malabar  coasts. 

The  foregoing  brief  sketch  will  enable  the  reader  to 
see  how  the  various  traditions  regarding  the  Apostle 
mutually  hang  together.  We  have  only  to  remark, 

homilies  in  Dormitionem  Deiparae  Virginis  Marine,  Migne,  /’.  Gr.-L., 
tom.  xcvii. ; they  are  marked  xii.,  xiii.,  and  xiv.,  col.  1045-1110.  The 
quotation  is  taken  from  col.  1066  : Significat  ergo  verbis  suis  vir  ad- 
mirabilis  (Dionysius  Areopagita)  totum  fere  apostolorum  sacratum 
chorum,  ad  venerabile  illud  magnumque  Dei  Matris  coactum  spec- 
taculum  discipulosque  per  universam  terrain  dispersos  una  tunc  fuisse 
congregatos. 

IV. — St.  John  of  Damascus  was  the  great  light  of  the  Eastern 
Church  during  the  eighth  century.  The  date  of  his  birth  is  unknown. 
He  came  forth  as  the  great  defender  of  sacred  images,  c.  726  ; was 
ordained  priest  by  the  Patriarch  John,  who  died  in  735.  The  icono- 
clast pseudo-Council,  held  at  Constantinople  in  754,  hurled  no  less  than 
four  anathemas  against  him,  but  says  he  was  then  dead.  The  year  of 
his  death  is  unknown.  This  doctor  of  the  Greek  Church  has  left 
three  homilies  in  Dormitionem  B.  V.  Marine , Migne,  P.  Gr.-L .,  tom. 
xcvi.,  Operum  Damasceni  iii.  col.  699  seq.  In  the  second  Oration, 
sec.  9 (col.  735),  the  presence  of  the  Apostles  at  the  demise 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  implied.  At  sec.  1 1 (col.  738)  it  is  said  : 
Deinde  puris  linteis  purum  corpus  involvitur,  lectoque  rursus  regina 
imponitur : Angelis  utique  linguis  suis  hymnum  sibi  gratissimum 
concinentibus ; apostolis  autem,  Deoque  plenis  Patribus  divinas 
quasdam  cantiones  a Spiritu  Sancto  inspiratas  modulantibus  Sec.  12. 
Ac  turn  sane,  turn  area  Domini  e monte  Sion  abiens,  venerandisque 
apostolorum  humeris  gestata,  in  caeleste  templum  per  interjectum 
sepulchrum  effertur. 


150  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

further,  how  unreasonable  it  is  to  suppose  that  traditions 
converging  from  various  points,  and  mutually  self- 
supporting,  can  be  the  outcome  of  legendary  imaginings. 
It  is  for  those  who  contest  them  to  prove  that  they  are 
inconsistent  with  any  known  facts,  and  consequently 
baseless.  Until  then,  they  hold  the  field. 

V. — The  Question  of  Calamina 

The  name  of  Calamina  is  found  in  some  of  the  writings 
which  bear  reference  to  the  Apostle  Thomas,  and  the  same 
writings  mention  it  as  the  place  of  his  martyrdom,  with 
the  added  information  that  it  is  situated  in  India.  The 
reader  will  scarcely  need  to  be  told  that  geography  knows 
of  no  place-— past  or  present — bearing  the  name,  and  that 
India  ignores  it.  It  becomes,  therefore,  a literary  puzzle, 
the  solution  of  which,  though  not  necessary  to  establish 
the  fact  that  India  had  received  the  faith  from  the  Apostle, 
yet  asks  for  a plausible,  if  not  satisfactory,  explanation. 
It  is  this  obvious  desire  that  we  will  attempt  to  meet. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  name  does 
not  appear  in  any  of  the  older  writings  treating  of  the 
Apostle.  St.  Ephraem,  from  whom  we  have  quoted 
largely,  the  ancient  Oriental  and  Western  Liturgies,  or 
the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  whose  witness  is  given  in 
Chapter  II.,  never  mention  it;  neither  do  the  Acts  of 
Thomas,  or  the  versions  of  the  same.  Chronologically, 
the  earliest  mention  of  KaXa/xovr],  or  Calamina , occurs  in 
Greek  writers  and  their  Latin  translations  of  a later  date, 
and  the  desinence  of  the  word  discloses  a Greek,  not  an 
Oriental  form.  It  appears  first  in  a group  of  mostly 
anonymous  writings  in  Greek,  which  give  a brief  sum- 
mary of  the  doings,  preachings,  and  deaths  of  the 
Apostles.  These  stories,  when  closely  examined,  are 
found  to  bear  a family  resemblance  in  shape  and  detail 
to  the  entries  given  in  the  Synaxarium  of  the  Greek 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  151 


Church  for  the  30th  of  June,  on  which  date  is  kept  the 
feast  of  the  ‘Commemoration  of  all  the  Twelve  Apostles.’ 
For  a specimen  of  these,  see  either  the  extra  vol.  of 
November,  published  by  the  Bollandists,  containing 
Synaxarium  Ecclesiae  Constantinopolita nae,  or  the  Menolo- 
gium  Graecunt,  edited  by  Card.  Albani,  Urbini,  1727  ad 
diem , compare  the  same  with  the  list  of  Dorotheus  or 
Oecumenius,  &c.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that 
neither  of  the  above  Greek  liturgical  books  makes 
mention  of  Calamina. 

From  this  class  of  writings  we  quote  the  following  : 
(1)  Sophronius,  whose  short  accounts  of  the  Apostles  in 
Greek  are  appended  to  St.  Jerome’s  book,  De  viris  illustr.; 
the  authenticity  of  the  MS  discovered  by  Erasmus,  whence 
these  additions  have  come  into  Jerome’s  text,  has  not  only 
been  questioned  but  openly  denied  ; but  it  has  lately  been 
re-discovered  ( an . 1896)  at  Zurich,  and  is  a MS  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  it  is  the  same  from  which  Erasmus 
had  published  the  Greek  extracts  in  1516;  but  the  MS 
does  not  bear  the  name  of  Sophronius  ; this  the  first 
editor,  Erasmus,  must  have  by  conjecture  suggested,  as 
one  Sophronius,  a friend  of  the  Doctor,  had  translated  into 
Greek  some  of  his  writings  ; the  name  is  here  retained  to 
specify  the  text  (see  Bardenhewer,  Les  Peres  de  /’ Eglise,  i. 
p.  13,  and  ii.  p.  390)  : ‘Thomas  the  Apostle,  as  has  been 
handed  down  to  us,  preached  the  gospel  of  the  Lord 
to  the  Parthians,  Medes,  Persians,  Carmanians,  Hyr- 
canians,  Bactrians,  and  the  Magi.  He  fell  asleep  in  the 
city  of  Calamina  of  India.’  Then  comes  (2)  pseudo- 
Hippolytus,1  On  the  Twelve  Apostles,  where  each  of  them 
preached  and  when  he  met  his  death , p.  131  : ‘And 
Thomas  preached  to  the  Parthians,  Medes  and  Persians, 
Hyrcanians,  Bactrians  and  Margians,  and  was  thrust 

1 T.  & T.  Clark’s  Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  Edinburgh,  1869, 
vol.  ix.,  or  vol.  ii.  of  Hippolytus,  appendix  to  part  ii.  ; also  Migne, 
P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  cxvii. 


152  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

through  in  the  four  members  of  his  body  with  a pine 
spear  at  Calamene,  the  city  of  India,  and  was  buried 
there.’  (3)  Dorotheus1  writes:  ‘Thomas  the  Apostle 
having  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Parthians,  Medes, 
Persians,  Germans  [ perhaps  Carmanians],  Bactrians  and 
Magians,  suffered  martyrdom  at  Calamite,  a city  of 
India  so  named.’  (4)  An  anonymous,  published  with 
the  works  of  Oecumenius,2  says  : ‘ Thomas  the  Apostle, 
as  the  tradition  of  our  elders  discloses,  preached  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  Parthians  and  Medes,  the 
Persians  and  Germans  [ read  Carmanians],  the  Hyr- 
canians  and  Bactrians  : he  fell  asleep  in  the  city  of 
KaXapblvT) — Calamina,  India.’ 

From  these  writings  apparently  the  name  has  been 
taken  up  by  some  later  Syrian  writers  : — (1)  Barhebraeus 
(1 Chron . Eccl. , tom.  i.  col.  34),  giving  a summary  of  the 
preachings  of  the  Apostles,  says  : ‘ Thomas  preached  to 
the  Parthians,  the  Medes,  and  at  Calamina,  a town  of 
India,  was  crowned  with  martyrdom,  whence  his 
body  was  removed  to  Edessa.’  A similar  passage 
of  his  is  given  by  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.,  iv.  p.  33,  from 
another  work,  Horreum  Mysteriorum : Comment,  in 
Matth.  (2)  An  anonymous  Syrian  writer3  says:  ‘The 
Apostle  Thomas  preached  . . .in  India  interior,  and 
taught  and  baptized  and  conferred  the  imposition  of 
hands  for  the  priesthood.  He  also  baptized  the  daughter 
of  the  King  of  the  Indians.  But  the  Brahmins  killed 

1 See  Du  Fresne  and  Du  Cange’s  edit,  of  the  Chronicoti  Paschale, 
Parisiis,  1688,  p.  435,  and  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  xcii.  col.  1071, 
Ecclesiastical  History  concerning  the  Seventy  Disciples  of  the  Lord,  by 
Dorotheus , bishop  of  Tyrej  No.  vii.,  Of  the  Apostle  Thomas. 

2 Vol.  i.,  Parisiis,  1630,  and  placed  before  Commentar.  in  Acta 
Aposiolor.,  who  wrote  the  Enarratio  de  duodecim  Apostolis  ct  locis 
ubi  Evangelium  praedicaverunt. 

3 In  Brit.  Mus.  Syr.  Add.  Cod.  17193,  folio  80,  of  the  year  874, 
published  by  the  joint  editors  of  the  above  Chron.  Eccl.,  vol.  iii. 
cols.  9-10. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  153 

him  at  Calamina.  His  body  was  brought  to  Edessa 
and  there  it  rests.' 

The  name  has  also  made  its  way  into  the  later 
Martyrologies.  It  may  be  remembered  that  the  old 
Western  Martyrology,  known  as  the  Hieronymian, 
makes  no  mention  of  Calamina,  but  it  is  found  in 
Baronius’  revision  or  edition  of  the  Roman  Martyrology. 

We  may  therefore  infer,  in  a general  way,  that 
between  the  latter  end  of  the  seventh  and  the  middle  of 
the  eighth  century  the  name  KaXa/xlvi]  came  into  vogue, 
and  got  inserted  into  the  narratives  concerning  the 
Apostle  Thomas.  At  that  stage  it  would  be  restricted 
to  Western  Asia,  to  generalise  the  term  ; for  in  the  sixth 
century  neither  Jacob  of  Sarug,  a.d.  521-522  in  the  East, 
nor  in  the  West  does  Gregory  of  Tours  in  a.d.  590,  nor 
even  Florus,  who,  a.d.  830,  enlarged  Bede’s  Martyro- 
logium,  make  any  mention  of  the  name. 

How  did  this  fictitious  name  originate  ? and  how 
did  it  get  connected  with  the  Apostle  ? Had  it  any 
connection  with  India,  that  in  the  minds  of  these 
writers  it  should  be  the  place  of  his  martyrdom  in 
that  country  ? 

We  venture  to  offer  the  following  as  a solution  of 
the  riddle.  The  word  ‘Calamina,’  as  it  appears  to  us, 
is  a composite  term,  consisting  of  the  words  K&lah,  the 
name  of  a place,  and  Elmina,  which  in  Syriac  denotes 
a port.  The  two  words  joined  together  with  a necessary 
elision  gives  the  product  Calamina,  or  Calamine,  signify- 
ing originally  the  ‘port  of  Kalah.'  That  there  existed 
in  the  vicinity  of  India  a port  bearing  the  name  of 
Kalah  is  historically  beyond  doubt.  The  present  form 
of  the  conjunction  of  the  two  terms  is  not  of  Semitic 
origin,  for  the  words  would  then  hold  reversed  positions, 
and  would  have  assumed  the  form  ‘ Elminah-Kalah,’ 
by  the  same  rule  that  the  Aramaic  form  of  the  names  of 
towns  with  Beth  have  Beth  preceding  the  noun  governed, 


154  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

but  must  be  of  Greek  or  Latin  origin  (see  Assemani, 
Bibl.  Or.,  iv.  p.  730,  for  a long  list  of  so  governed  names). 
This  of  itself  implies  that  the  term  ‘ Calamina  ’ is  not  of 
Aramaic  or  Semitic  origin. 

The  origin  of  this  compound  name  may  be  explained 
in  some  such  way  as  the  following.  Suppose  a Christian 
of  Greek  origin  anxious  to  learn  something  of  the  story  of 
the  Apostle  Thomas,  or  of  his  Relics,  inquired  of  an  eastern 
Syrian  traveller,  whence  were  the  Relics  of  the  Apostle 
brought  to  Edessa  ? and  received  in  reply  the  answer 
that  they  had  come  from  Kalah  [the  port]  ‘Elmina'  in 
the  Indies  ; it  would  be  sufficient  to  start  the  report  that 
they  had  come  from  Cala-mina  in  India.  As  a further 
inference  it  would  easily  follow  that  that  was  also  the 
place  of  his  martyrdom.  The  name  may  have  at  first 
originated  in  this  manner,  and  so  got  spread  among 
Greek-speaking  Christians,  and  thence  passed  into 
written  records. 

The  earliest  distinct  mention  of  Kalah,  to  give  it  its 
full  guttural  Aramaic  sound,  occurs  in  a letter  of  Jesuab 
of  Adiabene  (see  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.,  iii.,113  fb),  Patriarch 
of  the  Nestorians,  A.D.  650-660.  In  his  letter,  No.  14,  to 
Simeon  the  Primate  of  Persia  and  Metropolitan  of 
Ravardshir  [ibid.,  p.  127)  he  says  : Quum  per  legitim  os 
traductores,  perque  canonum  semitas  donum  Dei 
fluxerit  fluatque  ; en  plenus  est  orbis  terrarum  episcopis, 
sacerdotibus  et  fidelibus,  qui  tanquam  stellae  caeli  de 
die  in  diem  augentur.  At  in  vestra  regione,  ex  quo  ab 
ecclesiasticis  canonibus  deficistis,  interrupta  est  ab 
Indiae  populis  sacerdotalis  successio  ; nec  India  solum 
— quae  a maritimis  regni  Persarum  usque  ad  Colon, 
Khalam  [lege],  spatii  ducentorum  super  mille  parasan- 
garum  extenditur — sed  et  ipsa  Persarum  regio  vestra, 
divina  doctrinae  lumine,  quod  per  Episcopos  veritatis 
refulget,  orbata  et  in  tenebris  jacet. 

To  understand  the  full  importance  of  this  passage  of 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  155 

Jesuab,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Metropolitan 
of  Persia,  then  bishop  of  the  see  of  Ravardshir,  was  in 
open  revolt  against  the  authority  of  the  Catholicus,  or 
Patriarch,  of  the  Nestorians;  that  from  ages  past,  even 
at  the  date  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  A.D.  325,  India  had 
been  dependent  upon  the  Metropolitan  of  Persia.1  Later, 
in  the  days  of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  the  bishop  and 
the  clergy  used  to  come  to  India,  as  also  to  Socotra,  from 
Persia  and  were  ordained  there  ; the  passage  will  be  found 
in  the  next  Chapter  (pp.  197,  199);  this  cannot  be  gainsaid. 

1 In  the  signatures  to  the  Decrees  of  the  first  Council  of 
Nice,  registered  according  to  provinces  and  reproduced  by  Gelasius 
Cyzicenus  (Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  lxxxv.,  col.  1342  seq.),  we  find  the 
following  entry : Joannes  Persa,  Ecclesiis  in  iota  Persia  et  magna  India 
— ‘John  the  Persian  [presiding  over  the]  churches  in  Persia  and 
Greater  India.’  The  signature  implies  the  control  he,  as  Primate, 
or  Metropolitan,  the  term  then  in  use,  held  over  all  the  churches  in 
Persia  and  Greater  India.  It  is  in  perfect  conformity  with  the 
style  of  signatures  appended  by  other  Metropolitans  present  at  the 
Council.  Some  writers  have  gone  the  length  of  denying  the  presence 
of  a Persian  bishop,  while  others  have  objected  that  Persa  must 
imply  the  name  of  a town.  These  latter  have  read  the  signature  in 
the  light  of  those  appended  by  bishops  within  the  empire,  who  affix 
the  title  of  their  see  after  their  name.  But  here,  it  should  be  con- 
sidered, we  have  the  case  of  a solitary  Persian  in  an  assembly  com- 
posed chiefly  of  Greek  bishops  ; he  rightly  puts  forward  his  nationality 
as  the  proper  designation  of  himself — ‘ J obn  the  Persian.’  The 
denial  of  his  presence  at  the  Council  is  quite  unpardonable.  Euse- 
bius of  Caesarea,  the  father  of  Church  history,  was  present  at  this 
Council,  and  he  writes  as  follows  (De  vita  Constantini,  lib.  iii.  cap. 
vii.,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  viii.,  col.  51) : Etenim  ex  omnibus  ecclesiis 
quae  universam  Europam,  Africam  atque  Asiam  impleverant,  ii  qui 
inter  Dei  ministros  principem  locum  obtinebant  simul  convenere, 
&c.  After  enumerating  those  who  had  come  from  Syria,  Cilicia, 
Phoenicia,  Arabia,  Palestine,  Egypt,  and  Mesopotamia,  he  continues  : 
Quidam  etiam  ex  Perside  episcopus  synodo  interfuit.  What  further 
can  be  demanded  to  prove  the  presence  of  Bishop  John  the  Persian? 
Eusebius  appropriately  notes  that  there  was  but  one  bishop  from  that 
country,  for  if  there  had  been  others  they  would  have  affixed  their 
signatures  after  that  of  their  Metropolitan,  as  was  done  in  the  case  of 
those  provinces  of  the  empire  whence  more  than  one  bishop  was  in 
attendance.  Somehow  this  important  point  of  early  Church  history 
has  never  been  clearly  brought  forward. 


156  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Owing,  then,  to  the  revolt  of  the  Metropolitan,  the 
supply  of  the  clergy  for  India  was  cut  off,  and  became 
diminished  even  in  Persia,  as  the  contents  of  the  letter 
fully  disclose.  This  is  the  burden  of  Jesuab’s  complaint. 
Incidentally  he  mentions  Kalah  as  the  extreme  eastern 
terminus  of  his  jurisdiction  in  the  direction  of  India  and 
beyond  India  proper. 

Colonel  Yule,  who  quotes  part  of  this  extract,  was  not 
conscious  that  the  translation  given  by  Assemani  was 
misleading ; and  thereon  he  further  built  a wrong 
inference  of  his  own  (see  his  Cathay , &c.,  vol.  i.  p.  72, 
note).  The  scholar  who  detected  the  error  was  Gilde- 
meister  (see  his  Scriptorum  Arabum  de  locis  Indicis  loci  et 
opuscula,  Bonnae,  1838,  p.  60).  The  passage,  though, 
was  well  known  to  Orientals,  among  whom  this 
extract  of  the  letter  ranked  as  a classical  passage, 
and  used  to  be  assigned  to  students  of  the  language 
for  study.  It  was  thus  that  it  came  to  be  pointed 
out  to  the  writer  by  a Syro-Malabar  priest  of  his  late 
Vicariate  Apostolic  on  that  coast,  when  he  first  com- 
menced his  researches  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
in  India. 

There  are  two  places,  the  reader  should  know,  on 
behalf  of  which  the  name  Kalah  is  claimed  by  scholars. 
It  may  be  that  both  at  different  times  and  for  different 
reasons  had  a claim  to  the  name.  But  the  evidence  for 
the  verbal  appellation  that  has  come  down  to  us  is 
conclusive  for  a place  on  the  Malay  Peninsula,  which 
was  so  named  either  because  it  was  adjacent  to  the  tin 
mines  of  that  coast,  situated  a few  miles  to  the  north  of 
Penang,  and  now  worked  by  Chinamen— -or  because  it 
was  the  port  whence  the  mineral  named  Kalai,  tin,  was 
exported.  The  name  occurs  in  the  narrative  of  the  Arab 
travellers  of  the  eighth-ninth  century,  first  published  in 
a French  translation  by  the  Abb6  Renaudot,  Paris,  1718, 
also  rendered  into  English  and  published  in  London. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  157 


The  Arab  text  was  edited  by  Reinaud  with  a new 

translation  and  notes,  published  in  two  small  volumes, 
Paris,  1845.  In  vol.  i.  pp.  93-94,  the  text  says  : Le  roi 
du  Zabedj  compte  encore  parmi  les  possessions  1’isle  de 
Kalah,  qui  est  situ^e  a mi-chemin  entre  les  terres  de  la 
chine  et  le  pays  des  Arabes.  La  superficie  de  1’isle  de 
Kalah  est,  a ce  qu'on  dit,  de  quatre-vingts  parasanges. 
Kalah 1 est  le  centre  du  commerce  de  l’aloes,  du 
camphore,  du  sandel,  de  l’ivoire,  du  plomb  l'alcaly. 
Yule  comments  ( Cathay , vol.  i.  p.  cxci.,  note)  : ‘ M. 
Reinaud  objects  “ to  the  lead  called  al-qula-i ” being 
translated  tin,  though  all  the  light  he  throws  on  it  is  a 
suggestion  that  it  is  brass,  which  Cosmas  says  was 

exported  from  Kalliana  [Bombay].  Yet  qnla'-i  is  the 
word  universally  used  in  Hindustani  for  the  tinning 
of  pots  and  pans,  and  I see  F.  Johnstone's  Persian 
dictionary  simply  defines  it  as  tin.  This  product 
sufficiently  fixes  Kalah  as  in  or  near  the  Malay 

Peninsula.  Edrisi  also  places  the  mine  of  qala'-i  at 
that  place.’  Another  important  passage  bearing  on  the 
question  is  to  be  found  in  the  narrative  of  travels  left 
by  Ibn  Mehalhal,  who  in  A.D.  941  travelled  overland  to 
China  and  returned  by  sea.2  He  says,  leaving  China, 
‘he  arrived  at  Kalah.  It  is  the  first  Indian  city, 

and  the  last  for  those  sailing  thence ; they  cannot 
pass  it  or  they  would  be  lost.  On  arriving  there  I 
explored  the  place.  Kalah  is  a great  city  with  high 
walls  and  many  gardens  and  water  courses.  In  the 
vicinity  I saw  mines  of  lead  called  qala’-i,  which  is  found 
in  no  part  of  the  world  but  at  Qala’-h .’  Consult  also 
Yule  and  Burnell's  Hobson- Jobson , or  Glossary  of  Anglo- 

1 This  passage  is  thus  rendered  by  Yule  (Hobson-Jobson) : ‘ Kalah 
is  the  focus  of  the  trade  in  aloeswood,  in  camphor,  in  sandal-wood, 
in  ivory,  in  the  lead  which  is  called  Kala-i,’  &c. 

2 See  Abu  Dolef  Misaris  ben  Mohalhal,  De  Itinere  Asiatico , 
edidit  Kurd  de  Scholoezer,  Berolini,  1845  > also  Yule’s  Cathay , vol.  i. 
p.  cxi.,  No.  84,  and  p.  cxci.  ; and  Gildemeister,  ut  supr.,  p.  21 1. 


158  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

Indian  Colloquial  Words , &c.,  London,  1886,  at  the  word 
‘ Calay.' 

The  other  place  for  which,  among  others,  M. 
Reinaud  claims  the  name  of  Kalah  is  Point  de  Galle 
(l.c.,  vol.  ii.  p.  48,  note  171  et  alibi ; see  also  Geographic 
d’  Aboulfeda  traduite  en  Fran^ais,  vol.  i.,  Paris,  1848, 
Introduction,  pp.  cclxviii-cclxix).  The  whole  of  the 
south-east  coast  of  Ceylon  was  known  formerly  as  the 
‘ Galla  country  ’ : the  first  word,  with  a slight  Oriental 
guttural  sound  added,  becomes  ‘ Kalah.’  The  reader 
will  find  in  Tennent’s  Ceylon , 3rd  ed.,  London,  1859, 
vol.  i.  pp.  582-606,  the  main  arguments  in  support  of 
the  claim  either  of  Point  de  Galle,  or  rather  of  some 
ancient  port  on  that  coast  now  forgotten-— whence,  for 
example,  the  Chinese  pilgrim,  Fa  Hian,  sailed  direct  to 
China.  We  append  the  Chinese  pilgrim’s  narrative  to 
enable  the  reader  to  form  his  own  opinion.  Samuel 
Beal,  in  his  edition  of  the  Travels  of  Fa  Hian  a?id  Sung- 
Yun,  Buddhist  Pilgrims  from  China  to  India  (London, 
1869,  p.  165),  assigns  the  year  A.D.  400  for  the  journey  ; 
and  the  passage  relating  his  departure  from  Ceylon  is 
thus  rendered  : ‘ Fa  Hian  resides  in  this  country  (Ceylon) 
for  two  years  (and  having  obtained  certain  sacred  books 
in  Pali)  he  forthwith  shipped  himself  on  board  a great 
merchant  vessel  which  carried  about  two  hundred  men  ; 
astern  of  the  ship  was  a smaller  one,  as  a provision  in 
case  of  the  larger  vessel  being  injured  or  wrecked 
during  the  voyage.’  This  will  establish  the  existence 
of  a port,  an  entrepot  of  commerce,  between  western 
and  eastern  Asia,  where  large  Chinese  ships  were  found 
trading,  at  the  opening  of  the  fifth  century  on  the  Galla 
coast.  This  or  any  other  port  of  the  Galla  country 
could  also  have  offered  a point  d' appui  for  the  in- 
troduction of  the  composite  term  ‘ Calamina.’ 

Before  closing  this  inquiry  we  must  for  a moment 
return  to  the  Nestorian  Patriarch’s  statement  regarding 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  159 


Kalah.  The  passage  in  English  would  read  thus  : ‘The 
flow  of  sacerdotal  succession  to  the  peoples  of  India  has 
been  cut  off  since  you  (the  Metropolitan  of  Persia)  fell 
away  from  the  observance  of  the  canons  of  the  Church  ; 
and  not  only  to  India — which  extends  from  the  shores 
of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  even  unto  Kalah,  a distance  of 
twelve  hundred  parasangs,’  &c.  This  gives  the  marine 
distance  at  which  Kalah  was  placed  from  the  shores  of 
the  Persian  Gulf.  If  the  point  of  departure  be  taken 
from  the  old  land  station  of  Ormuz,  and  following 
closely  the  coast  line,  we  measure  from  that  point  the 
distance  to  the  Kalah  of  the  Arab  geographers  on  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  passing  through  the  Gulf  of  Manar  by 
Jafnapatam,  and  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  to  the  south 
of  the  Nicobars,  on  to  the  present  Qualah  of  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  placed  somewhat  to  the  north  of  Penang,  we 
obtain,  roughly,  58  degrees.  To  convert  these  into  land 
miles  we  take  the  more  or  less  generally  accepted  term 
of  69  English  statute  miles  to  a degree  ; this  gives  us 
4002  English  statute  miles.  If  we  now  look  at  Jesuab’s 
figures  of  1200  parasangs,  we  have  three  and  a quarter 
miles  (3J)  to  a parasang,  with  a remainder  of  but  2 
miles. 

But  what  is  a parasang  ? The  only  clear  definition 
generally  accepted  is  that  it  implies  ‘the  distance  a 
horse  is  accustomed  to  travel  by  road  in  Persia  in 
one  hour.’  Taking  into  consideration  the  roads,  if 
roads  they  may  be  called,  the  condition  of  the  ordinary 
caravan  mount,  and  the  weight  of  personal  belongings 
carried  by  the  animal  together  with  his  rider,  it  does 
not  seem  likely  that  the  distance  travelled  would  be 
over  3^  miles.  Colonel  Yule,  in  fact  {Cathay,  vol.  i. 
p.  53,  note),  converts  the  parasang  into  English  miles 
at  roughly  that  figure.  There  is  no  reliable,  much  less 
standard,  gauge  to  go  by  in  converting  the  parasang  into 
an  European  measure.  It  should  be  realised,  to  begin 


i6o  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


with,  that  Jesuab’s  measurement  is  only  a fair  Arab 
calculation  of  the  distance,  that  which  our  maps  show 
to  be  58  degrees,  between  Ormuz  and  Qualah.  As  these 
two  fit  into  each  other,  by  the  rate  of  conversion  adopted 
as  a common  measure,  we  come  to  the  conclusion,  by  a 
fairly  average  measurement,  that  Jesuab’s  Kalah  is  the 
same  as  that  mentioned  by  Arab  geographers,  and  was 
consequently  known  already  and  frequented  by  Persian 
traders  by  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  So  that, 
whilst  in  the  days  of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  the  Nes- 
torian  clergy  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Ceylon,  A.D.  530- 
545,  and  Cosmas  says  he  was  unaware  (see  p.  199)  that 
there  were  any  farther  east,  we  are  able  to  verify  on 
the  authority  of  Jesuab,  that  they  had,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  trade,  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Malay  coast. 
Might  not  this  also  offer  a fair  basis  to  fix  a date 
for  the  introduction  of  the  word  Calamina  into  hagio- 
graphical  literature  ? 

To  test  this  point  we  propose  to  place  together  all 
the  data  we  have  adduced,  and  see  what  result  they  offer. 

A.  — Kalah  or  Calamina  not  mentioned  by — 

(1)  Jacob  of  Sarug  (Poem,  The  Palace  that  Thomas , &c.), 

A.D.  552. 

(2)  Gregory  of  Tours  (67.  Martyr.),  A.D.  590. 

(3)  Florus  of  Lyons  (Bedae  Martyrol.),  A.D.  830. 

B.  — Kalah  or  Calamina  mentioned  by — 

(1)  Jesuab,  A.D.  650-660. 

(2)  Syr.  MS  (Brit.  Mus.),  A.D.  874. 

The  above  are  dated  records.  Now  as  to  the  un- 
dated : — 

(1)  Calamina  is  found  mentioned  by  a series  of  Greek 
writers,  who  have  only  left  lists  of  the  Apostles' 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  161 


doings,  &c.,  all  anonymous.  These,  Mgr. 
Duchesne,  aptly  classifies  as  1 Catalogi  Aposto- 
lorum.’ 

(2)  And  by  Syrian  and  Latin  writers  of  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries. 

We  think  it  may  be  safely  inferred  that  the  origin  of 
the  word  ‘ Calamina  ’ should  not  be  placed  earlier  than 
Jesuab’s  date  ; it  had  not  yet  been  introduced  in  830  when 
Florus  made  his  additions  to  Bede’s  Martyrology.  This 
brings  us  down  to  the  second  quarter  of  the  ninth  century 
for  Latin  writers.  Later,  it  crept  into  the  smaller  Latin 
Martyrologies. 

If  we  accept  a date  from  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  to  the  middle  of  the  eighth,  A.D.  650-750,  for 
the  introduction  of  the  word  in  the  writings  ‘ Catalogi 
Apostolorum,’  we  may  perhaps  not  be  far  wrong.  A 
closer  date  could  only  be  worked  out  from  some  ex- 
ternal circumstance,  such  as  a dated  MS,  but  no  infer- 
ence can  be  drawn  from  style,  as  the  lists  consist  of 
only  short  paragraphs  for  each  Apostle.  The  origin  may 
even  be  later,  between  750  and  850  ; and  if  the  Syriac  MS 
date  be  taken  as  a gauge  for  its  introduction,  the  latter 
period  would  suit  better.  Mgr.  Duchesne  ventured  an 
opinion  ( Martyr . Hieron.,  ut  supr.  p.  lxxviii.)  that  the 
‘ Catalogi’  writers  appeared  ‘ vix  ante  saeculum  vii,’  that 
would  be  A.D.  601.  This  appears  to  be  too  early. 


VI. — The  ‘ Maliarpha’  of  Ptolemy 

What  has  been  said  above  will  no  doubt  have 
impressed  the  reader  with  the  fact  that  the  writers  who 
mention  Calamina  take  it  to  be  the  name  of  the  place 
in  India  where  our  Apostle  died  and  was  buried  ; yet  they 
were  mistaken  as  to  the  name.  It  is  but  natural  that 
the  reader  should  further  inquire  whether  there  is  any 

L 


162  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


mention  in  ancient  geography  of  the  town  Mailapur 
(. Anglice , Mylapore)  where  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle, 
from  the  evidence  produced  in  a preceding  chapter, 
is  known  to  exist. 

The  author  of  the  Periplus,  of  the  end  of  the  first  or 
beginning  of  the  second  century,  the  earliest  geogra- 
pher who  treats  somewhat  fully  of  India  (see  the  edition 
by  McCrindle,  London,  1879,  pp.  140-144)  ends  his 
description  of  the  maritime  shores  of  India  with  the 
two  gulfs  of  Manar  and  Palk.  It  is  true  he  gives 
some  three  names  which  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  estuary  of  the  Cauvery,  but  he  has  no  detailed 
account  of  the  eastern  coast  of  the  peninsula,  and  passes 
on  to  mention  Masalia,  the  present  Masulipatam,  as  a 
landmark.  It  would  seem  that  he  never  travelled 
beyond  the  gulf  of  Manar.  It  is  needless,  therefore,  to 
look  to  him  for  any  information  reg  irding  the  Mylapore 
of  ancient  days. 

We  may  next  turn  to  Ptolemy.  Mr.  McCrindle  has  also 
given  an  English  translation  of  the  section  of  his  text  with 
a commentary  regarding  India  ( Ancient  India  as  described 
by' Ptolemy,  London,  1885).  The  information  regarding 
Southern  India,  for  reasons  quite  independent  of  the 
editor’s  industry,  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  In  tracing 
the  geography  of  the  Alexandrian  cartographer  for  the 
Northern,  Eastern,  and  Western  sections  of  India, 
McCrindle  had  received  very  considerable  aid  from  work 
which  had  been  done  by  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  ; this 
help  now  failed  him.  Three  Mdmoires  sur  la  geographie 
de  I'lnde  by  the  Frenchman  were  published,  but  the 
fourth,  which  was  to  take  up  the  geography  of  Southern 
India — though  promised  and  referred  to  in  the  third 
— was  unfortunately  never  published.1 

1 While  at  Paris  we  made  personal  inquiries  to  trace  the  missing 
MS,  and  having  learned  that  the  Socictc  de  Geographie , Paris,  was 
the  possessor  of  some  of  M.  Vivien  de  Saint-Martin’s  unedited  MSS, 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  163 

The  withdrawal  of  this  help  brought  with  it  another 
disadvantage.  Saint-Martin  possessed  a wealth  of  know- 
ledge of  the  geography  of  ancient  India,  and  displayed 
a rare  genius  in  tracing  up  details  of  the  Vedic  and 
Puranic,  or  Sanscrit,  geography.  McCrindle  had  now 
to  fall  back  on  what  aid  Colonel  Yule  could  supply  ; 
and  he,  excellent  as  he  was  in  all  appertaining  to  the 
geography  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  Arab  travellers, 
was  unable  to  supplement  what  help  the  Frenchman  had 
given.  It  will  therefore  not  appear  surprising  if  the 
result  of  McCrindle’s  work  covering  this  section  is  not 
found  conclusive  to  recall  the  memory  of  the  Mylapore 
of  ancient  days. 

Ptolemy’s  Geography  from  McCrindle  : — 

‘ Book  VII. — Description  of  the  furthest  parts  of 
Greater  Asia  according  to  the  existing  provinces  and 
satrapies. 

f 13.  Paralia,  specially  so  called,  the  country  of  the  Toringoi. 

Mouth  of  the  river  Khaberis. 

Khaberis,  an  emporium. 

Sabouras,  an  emporium. 

‘ 14.  The  Arounarnoi  [Arvarnoi]. 

Poduke,  an  emporium. 

Melange,  an  emporium. 

Mouth  of  the  river  Tyna. 

Kottis. 

Manarpha  [or  Manaliarpha],  a mart. 

‘15.  Maisolia,  &c.’ 


we  inquired  there,  but  ascertained  that  the  missing  MS  was  not 
among  the  few  the  Society  possessed ; nor  were  we  able  to  trace  it 
elsewhere.  We  then  made  special  research  to  obtain  further  infor- 
mation bearing  on  this  point.  After  producing  what  McCrindle  has  to 
say,  we  place  before  the  reader  the  result  of  our  further  investigations 
carried  out  in  Rome  and  Paris. 


164  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

The  point  to  be  ascertained  is  whether  the  reading 
Manarpha,  or  Manaliarpha , a mart,  represents  the 
sole,  or  even  the  best  reading  of  this  passage  in 
Ptolemy. 

(i)  The  oldest  edition  we  consulted  was  indeed  a 
tall,  venerable  edition1  in  fob  max.  of  1513,  folio  49 
(1st  col.)  : — 


A. 

In  ea  quae  proprie  dicitur  Paralia  Soretorum 
a-tojO^TGjv  maritima. 

Chaberis  xa/??jpis  civitas. 

Chaberi  xal^rIPov  flu-  osti. 

Sobura  o-o/Sovpa  emporium 
Aruarnorum  dpovapvu v. 

Podyca  TroSvKrj  emporium. 

Melanga  /xeAayyr)  emporium. 

Tynae  rwa  flu.  osti. 

Cottis  KOTTLS 

Maliarpha  p.aXi.ap^>a  emporium. 

Mesoliae  /xaicrwAtas. 

(2)  The  second  is  Erasmus’  first  and  separate  edition 
of  the  entire  Greek  text : Claudii  Ptolemaei  Alexandrini 
de  geographia  libri  octo,  Basileae,  mdxxxiii,  in  8vo  (Bibl. 
Nationale,  Paris),  p.  409  : — 


1 It  bears  the  title,  ‘ Claudi  Ptolemaei  viri  Alexandrini  . . . 
Geographicus  novissima  traductione  e Graecorum  archetipis  casti- 
gatissime  pressum.  1.  Cl.  Ptolomaei  Geographiam  per  octo  libros 
partitam , &c.  On  the  verso  of  folio  74  the  following  data  are  given  : 
Anno  Christi  Opt.  Max.  mdxiii,  Martii  xii,  Pressus  hie  Ptolomaeus 
Argentinae  vigilantissima  castigatione  industriaque  Joannis  Scholti 
urbis  indigenae.’  The  work  is  dedicated  to  the  emperor  Maximilian  : 
it  is  a combined  Greek  and  Latin  text  (of  the  Bibl.  de  la  Socitte  de  la 
Geographie,  Paris). 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  165 


B. 

Ttjs  i8to)S  iraXovpaivr)1;  irapa.\ia<s 
Twpiyyiov 

\a/3rjpov  7tot . e/</3oAai 
a/3rjpi s epiropiov 
craf3ovpa<;  ep.Tropi.ov 
A povapiov 
7 ToSwKTj  epiropiov 
peXayyij  epiropiov 
Tyvva  7TOT.  ei</3o\ai 
\ottis 

pavapejja  epiropiov 
Mato’wXtas 

(3)  The  third  is  a Lyons’  edition  of  MDXXXV  in  fol. : 
Bilibaldi  Pirkeymheri  translatione  ad  Graeca  et  prisca 
exemplaria  a Michaele  Villanouano  jam  primum  recepti 
(libri  octo),  Lugduni  (the  Bibl.  Casanatensis,  Rome).  A 
second  edition  of  Lyons  of  1541  gives  an  identical  text 
in  the  passage  : — 

C. 

Arouarnorum 
Poduca  emporium 
Melange  emporium 
Tynae  flu.  ostia 
Cottis 

Maliarpha  emporium 
Mesoliae 

(4)  The  fourth  is  a Latin  edition : Geographia  univer- 
salis vetus  et  nova  complectens — Claudii  Ptolemaei  Alex, 
enarrationes,  libri  viii,  Basileae  Henricum  Petrum  Mense 
Martio  anno  mdxl  in  40  : — 

D. 

Poduca  emporium 
Melange  emporium 
Tynae  flu.  ostia 
Cottis 

Maliarpha  emporium 
Mesoliae 


166  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


(5)  The  fifth  is  an  Italian  translation  from  a Greek 
text : La  Geographia  di  Claudio  Tolomeo  Alessandrino, 
tradotto  dal  Greco  da  M.  Giero  Ruscelli,  Venetia, 
apresso  Giordano  Ziletti,  mdlxxiiii,  Lib.  vii,  Tavola  x 
d'Asia,  p.  312  : — 

E. 

Di  quello  che  propriamente  si  chiama  maritima  de’  Soringi — 


* Caberi  mercato 

[Cachel 

Bocca  del  flume  Cabero 

* Sobura  mercato 

[Zael 

De  gli  Aruari 

Poduca  mercato 

* Melange  mercato 

[Magapara 

Bocca  del  flume  Tinna 

Cottide 

Maliarfa  mercato 

Et  il  luogo  onde  sciolgono  coloro  che  navigano  in  Crisa. 

(6)  The  sixth  is  an  edition  of  1605  : Claudii  Ptole- 
maei  Alexandrini  Geographiae  libri  octo  Graeco-Latini 
per  Gerardum  Mercatorem  a Petro  Montano  iterum 
recogniti,  Francofurti,  Amsterodami,  fol.  1605,  p.  169 
(1st  col.) : — 


F. 

In  ea  quae  proprie  dicitur  Paralia  sive 
littoralis  Toringorum 

Aruarorum 
Puduca  emporium 
Melange  emp. 

* Tynnae  flu.  ostia  [al.  Tynae 

Cottis 

* Manarpha  emporium  [a/.  Maliarpha 

Maesoliae 


* N.B. — This  sign  indicates  that  the  editor  has  supplied  in  the  next  column 
what  he  considers  the  present-day  name  of  the  place. 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  167 
Greek  text,  p.  169,  2nd  col.  : — 

Trj<i  tSttos  KaXovpevrjs  Tra.paXt.a'; 

Apovaptov 
TroSbiKIj  ep.TTOpt.OV 
peXayyp  epTroptov 
rvvva  7 tot.  eK^oXat 
KOTTIS 

pavapefta  epTroptov 
Mater  cuAtas 

(7)  The  seventh  is  the  edition  of  Peter  Bertius,  printed 
in  1618  : Bataviae,  in  fol.,  giving  in  full  the  Greek  text  and 
Latin  translation  (the  Library  of  St.  Genevieve,  Paris). 

Page  198,  1st  col.,  Lat.  version: — 

G. 

In  ea  quae  proprie  dicitur  paralia  sive 

littoralis  Toringorum  [Soringorum 
Chaberi  flu.  ostia 
Chaberis  emporium 
Saburas  \Palat.  Sobura  emporium 

Arvarorum  [Pa/.  Aruarnorum 
Podoce  [Pal.  Poduce  emporium 

Melange  emporium 

P.  199,  2nd  col  : — 

Tynnae  flu.  ostia 
Cottis 

Manarpha  [Pal.  Manaliarpha  emporium 
Maesoliae 

Greek  text,  p.  198  f.  2nd  col.  : — 

X1 a/3rjpov  Trorapov  ei</3oXcu 
\a/3r)pi> ; epiroptov 

'Sa.fiovpa's  [Pal.  ’Ziof3ovpa  eprropiov 
Apoaptov  [Pal.  Apovapvtov 
IIoSa>K7j  [Pal.  IIwSoDKrj  epiroptov 
MeAayy i]  epiropiov 
Turva  Trorapov  eK/3o Aat 
Korns 

M avap(f>a  [Pal.  MavaAta pefaa  epiroptov 
MatirajAtas 


1 68  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


The  preceding  are  the  older  editions  we  found  useful 
to  consult ; we  met  with  others,  but  they  were  reprints. 
There  is  only  one  modern  print  of  the  entire  Greek  text, 
that  published  by  Carolus  Fr.  A.  Nobbe,  a stereotyped 
edition,  printed  in  three  separate  i8mo  vols.  at  Leipsic, 
1843-45 ; it  is  a reprint  of  the  Greek  text  of  Peter 
Bertius  of  Amsterdam,  1618,  quoted  above.  McCrindle’s 
translation  is  based  on  Nobbe's  reprint. 

Of  critical  editions  of  the  text  there  are  two,  both 
incomplete.  The  earlier  was  prepared  by  Fred  William 
Wilberg,  printed  at  Essendiae,  1838-45,  in  4to,  and 
issued  in  six  fasciculi ; it  gives  the  readings  of  seven 
MSS  collated  by  the  editor,  and  of  the  readings  of  two 
others  supplied  to  him ; the  edition  goes  only  to  the  end 
of  the  sixth  book.  The  second  was  by  Alfred  Fermin 
Didot,  Paris,  1883,  in  4to,  for  which  some  twenty  codices 
were  collated  ; it  is  also  equipped  with  ample  infor- 
mation in  notes.  The  edition  was  to  have  been  com- 
pleted ; in  three  volumes,  two  for  text,  and  a third 
for  maps.  Only  the  first  volume  was  published,  giving 
the  first  three  of  the  eight  books  of  the  geography. 
Lately,  a Paris  firm  {Librairie  de  Paris , Rue  Jacob  56) 
published  the  maps  of  the  three  first  books  as  part  ii. 
of  first  volume.  It  thus  becomes  clear  that  we  have 
no  critical  text  for  the  seventh  and  eighth  books  of 
Ptolemy’s  Geography.  India  is  treated  in  the  seventh. 

The  text  first  quoted,  given  by  McCrindle,  takes  us 
back  eventually  to  that  of  Peter  Bertius.  It  will  be 
useful  to  quote  what  he  has  written  in  the  preface  to 
that  edition,  on  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the  text  he 
publishes  : Quum  . . . Hundius  nostram  operam  ad 
novam  Ptolemaei  editionem  efflagitaret,  recepi  earn  in 
me  et  ope  codicis  Graeci  in  quo  Fredericus  Sylbergus 
varias  lectiones  Palatinorum  codicum  sua  manu  curiose 
admodum  adnotaverat,  non  tantum  Graeca  infinitis  locis 
auxi  et  restitui,  sed  etiam  Latina  maxima  sui  parte  inter- 


FURTHER  HISTORICAL  RECORDS  169 


polavi.  . . . Est  ubi  Latinus  codex  plura  habet  quam 
Graecus  ; est  ubi  Graecus  plura  quam  Latinus  : est  ubi 
ita  inter  se  dissidunt  ut  quid  sequaris  vix  scias.  This 
gives  a fair  idea  of  the  value  of  this  text  based  on  a 
single  Greek  MS.  supplemented  by  readings  from  two 
or  three  Palatine  codices. 

We  place  before  the  reader  an  analysis  of  the  readings 
of  texts  given  above  in  regard  to  the  passage  which 
refers  to  our  Mailapur  : — 

Gr.  Ma\iap(f>a  A 
„ Ma  vap<f>a  BI'G 
,,  M.avaXiap(j>a  G 

Lat.  Maliarpha  ACDF 
„ Manarpha  FG 
,,  Manaliarpha  G 

Ital.  Maliarfa  E 

The  readings  Mavap<f>a  and  Manarpha  are  identical, 
so  they  will  be  grouped  together  : the  readings  Ma\iap$a 
and  MavaXtaptya — Maliarpha,  Manaliarpha , and  Maliarfa 
will  be  similarly  grouped. 

For  the  first  set  we  have  texts  BFG  and  FG. 

For  the  second  we  rely  upon  AG  and  ACDF  and  G 
and  E. 

This  gives  (5)  five  readings  for  the  root  Manarpha  and 
(8)  eight  for  the  root  Maliarpha.  This  leaves  a sufficient 
preponderance  to  show  that,  though  the  present  text 
offers  a variant,  the  balance  of  weight  is  for  the  root 
Maliarpha,  taking  together  Greek  text  printed,  and  inde- 
pendent translations  from  the  Greek. 

The  form  Maliarpha  contains  the  two  essential  in- 
gredients of  the  name  Malia-pur,  which  would  be  the 
form  known  or  reported  to  the  Greek  geographers.  A 
Greek  desinence,  as  customary  in  such  cases,  has  been 
introduced,  so  in  place  of  pur  or  phur  (which  may 


170  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


represent  a more  ancient  form  of  pronunciation)  we 
have  the  Greek  termination  pha  ; nor  has  the  sound  r of 
the  Indian  name  disappeared,  but  it  has  passed  to  the 
preceding  syllable  of  the  word.  If  we  take  into  con- 
sideration the  inaccurate  reproduction  of  Indian  names 
in  Ptolemy’s  present  text,  it  is  almost  a surprise  that  so 
much  of  the  native  sound  of  the  name  is  yet  retained. 
We  will  not  refer  to  the  map  which  accompanies  Ptol- 
emy’s Geography , wherein  the  name  Maliarpha  emporium 
is  found,  for  it  might  be  said  that  it  is  the  result  of 
subsequent  manipulation  of  these  charts ; but  it  is  sig- 
nificant to  point  out  that  these  maps  place  ‘Maliarpha’ 
where  the  present  Mylapore  would  be  shown. 

The  identification  which  we  have  followed  up  so  far 
had  been  pointed  out  by  D’Anville,  the  French  geogra- 
pher of  the  eighteenth  century  (see  his  Gtographie  An- 
cienne  abregee , Paris,  1788,  ch.  ix.  p.  330-331) ; as  also  by 
Paulinus  a Sto.  Bartholomeo,  the  Carmelite  missionary 
of  the  West  Coast  {India  Orientalis  Christiana , Romae, 
1794,  p.  126). 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA 

In  opposition  to  the  claim  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  to  be 
the  first  who  conveyed  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  India 
proper,  the  claims  of  others  have  been  put  forward  from 
time  to  time  by  ancient  and  modern  writers.  It  will  in 
consequence  be  necessary,  in  order  to  clear  up  all  doubt 
on  the  subject,  to  look  carefully  into  all  such  claims,  and 
examine  the  credentials  adduced  on  behalf  of  each. 


I. — St.  Pantaenus 

The  first  in  chronological  order  is  St.  Pantaenus, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  left  for  his  mission  A.D.  189- 
190. 1 This  claim  is  put  forward  by  no  less  an 
authority  than  the  father  of  Church  history,  Eusebius, 
the  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  A.D.  265-340.  The  Roman  Mar- 
tyrology  (ed.  ut  supr.)  has  the  following  entry  on  the 
7th  of  July:  ‘At  Alexandria  [the  feast  or  commemora- 
tion] of  St.  Pantaenus,  an  apostolic  man  and  endowed 
with  every  knowledge,  whose  zeal  and  love  for  the  word 
of  God  was  so  great  that,  inflamed  by  the  fervour  of  his 
faith  and  piety,  he  went  forth  to  peoples  secluded  in 
the  farthest  recesses  of  the  East  to  preach  the  Gospel 
of  Christ ; and  returning  finally  to  Alexandria,  he 

1 The  claim  for  Pantaenus  has  been  recently  urged  by  Rev. 
George  Milne-Rae,  The  Syrian  Church  in  India,  London,  1892,  ch.  v. 
p.  62  ; and  by  Dr.  George  Smith,  The  Conversion  of  India , London, 
1893,  ch.  ii.  p.  r 1. 


172  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

slept  in  peace  under  Antoninus  Caracalla  ’ [a.d.  211- 
217]. 

The  Martyrology  does  not  specify  the  field  of  his 
missionary  labours  ; and  for  most  of  his  authentic  his- 
tory we  have  to  depend  upon  some  short  notices  by  his 
disciple,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  a fuller  account  by 
Eusebius  (Eccl.  Hist.,  bk.  v.  chap,  x.,  Eng.  trans.  by 
C.  F.  Cruse,  London,  1851,  p.  178) : ‘ About  the  same 
time  [i.e.  in  the  first  year  of  Commodus,  A.D.  180,  when 
Julian  succeeded  Agrippinus  in  the  see  of  Alexandria, 
as  shown  in  preceding  chapter  ( apud  Euseb.)]  the  school 
of  the  faithful  was  governed  by  a man  distinguished 
for  his  learning,  whose  name  was  Pantaenus;  as  there 
had  been  a school  of  sacred  literature  established 
there  from  ancient  times,  which  has  continued  down 
to  our  own  times,  and  which  we  have  understood 
was  conducted  by  men  able  in  eloquence  and  the 
study  of  divine  things.  For  the  tradition  is,  that  this 
philosopher  was  then  in  great  eminence,  as  he  had 
been  first  disciplined  in  the  philosophical  principles  of 
those  called  Stoics.  But  he  is  said  to  have  displayed 
such  ardour,  and  so  zealous  a disposition,  respecting  the 
divine  word,  that  he  was  constituted  a herald  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  nations  of  the  East,  and  advanced 
even  as  far  as  India.  There  were  even  there  yet  many 
evangelists  of  the  word,  who  were  ardently  striving  to 
employ  their  inspired  zeal  after  the  apostolic  example 
to  increase  and  build  up  the  divine  word.  Of  these, 
Pantaenus  is  said  to  have  been  one,  and  to  have  come 
as  far  as  the  Indies.  And  the  report  is,  that  he  there 
found  his  own  arrival  anticipated  by  some  who  there  were 
acquainted  with  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  to  whom  Bar- 
tholomew, one  of  the  Apostles,  had  preached,  and  had 
left  them  the  same  gospel  in  the  Hebrew,  which  was  also 
preserved  until  this  time.  Pantaenus,  after  many  praise- 
worthy deeds,  was  finally  at  the  head  of  the  Alexandrian 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  173 

school  commenting  on  the  treasures  of  divine  truth,  both 
orally  and  in  his  writings.’1 

Eusebius  tells  us  that,  according  to  tradition,  Pan- 
taenus  reached  India,  but  does  not  specify  the  India  he 
refers  to.  The  general  impression  produced  on  the  mind 
of  the  reader  by  the  text  quoted  would  be  that  the  refer- 
ence is  to  India  proper  ; and  were  it  not  for  the  mention 
made  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  left  by  the  Apostle 
Bartholomew  there  would  be  no  substantial  clue  to  test 
the  correctness  of  the  impression.  But  this  will  be  found 
sufficient  to  identify  the  India  to  which  Pantaenus  went. 

The  solution  of  the  doubt  demands  that  a country  be 
found  to  which  Bartholomew  had  gone,  known  under 
the  name  of  India,  and  a people  who  could  make  intelli- 
gent use  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  left  there  by  the 

1 St.  Jerome  ( De  viris  illustr.,  cap.  xxxvi.  col.  651,  Migne,  P.  L., 
tom.  xxiii.)  has  the  following  notice  on  Pantaenus  : Pantaenus  Stoicae 
sectae  philosophus,  juxta  quamdam  veterem  in  Alexandria  consue- 
tudinem,  ubi  a Marco  evangelista  semper  Ecclesiastici  fuere  Doctores, 
tantae  prudentiae  et  eruditionis  tarn  in  Scripturis  divinis,  quam  in 
saeculari  litteratura  fuit,  ut  in  Indiam  quoque  rogatus  ab  illius  gentis 
legatis,  a Demetrio  Alexandriae  episcopo,  mitteretur.  Ubi  reperit, 
Bartholomaeum  de  duodecim  Apostolis,  adventum  Domini  nostri 
Jesu  Christi  juxta  Matthaei  evangelium  praedicasse,  quod  Hebraicis 
litteris  scriptum  revertens  Alexandriae  secum  detulit.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  Jerome  states  Pantaenus  brought  back  with  him  to 
Alexandria  the  copy  of  Matthew’s  gospel  left  among  the  people  by 
Bartholomew,  while  Eusebius  makes  no  mention  of  the  sort.  Rufinus, 
in  his  translation  into  Latin  of  Eusebius’  history  (text  quoted  from 
Avtores  Historiae  Ecclesiasticae  per  Beatum  Rhenanum  apud  Basi- 
leam,  anno  MDXXIII,  an  early  print,  lib.  v.  c.  10,  p.  1 13)  reads  : Quern 
[vid.  Pantaenum]  ferunt  cum  ad  Indos  pervenisset,  reperisse  quod 
Bartholomaeus  apostolus  apud  eos  fidei  semina  prima  condiderit,  et 
Matthaei  evangelium  Hebraicis  scriptum  literis  dereliquerit : quod  per 
idem  tempus  supradictus  Pantaenus  inibi  repertum  detulerit.  This  is 
an  important  detail  added  by  the  translator;  anyhow  there  is  no 
further  mention  anywhere  of  this  codex  of  the  original  text  of 
Matthew,  lost  after  its  work  had  been  completed.  Pantaenus  is 
supposed  to  have  returned  to  Alexandria  by  A.D.  205.  Rufinus,  in 
continuation  of  the  passage  quoted,  says  : apud  Alexandriam  claram 
et  satis  nobilem  vitam  optimo  et  mirabili  fine  conclusit. 


174  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

former.  A further  point  for  investigation  is  offered  by 
the  text  of  the  gospel. 

The  opinion  now  universally  accepted  is  that  this  was 
written  in  the  current  Aramaic,  then  prevailing  in  Pales- 
tine, for  the  special  benefit  of  the  new  converts  in  Judea. 
Flavius  Josephus  has  a striking  passage  which  bears  on 
the  language  question  of  the  Jews  at  his  time.  We  take 
it  from  the  preface  written  by  him  to  his  The  Wars  of  the 
Jews,  or  The  History  of  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  (pub- 
lished and  revised  in  Greek,  A.D.  93  ; Eng.  trans.  by 
William  Whiston,  London,  1870, vol.  i.  p.  551).  In  section  1 
he  says  : ‘ I have  proposed  to  myself,  for  the  sake  of  such 
as  live  under  the  government  of  the  Romans,  to  translate 
these  books  into  the  Greek  tongue,  which  I formerly 
composed  in  the  language  of  our  country  and  sent  to 
the  Upper  Barbarians’  [he  is  here  using  the  term  in  the 
Roman  and  Greek  sense].  In  section  2 he  adds  : ‘ I 
thought  it  therefore  an  absurd  thing  to  see  the  truth 
falsified  in  affairs  of  such  great  importance,  and  to  take 
no  notice  of  it ; but  to  suffer  those  Greeks  and  Romans 
that  were  not  in  the  wars  to  be  ignorant  of  these  things, 
and  to  read  either  flatteries  or  fictions,  while  the  Par- 
thians,  and  the  Babylonians,  and  the  remotest  Arabians, 
and  those  of  our  nation  beyond  the  Euphrates,  with  the 
Adiabeni,  by  my  means  know  accurately  both  whence 
the  war  began,  what  miseries  it  brought  upon  us,  and 
after  what  manner  it  ended.’ 

Josephus  does  not  tell  us  in  what  language  his  history 
of  the  Jewish  wars  was  written,  but  styles  it  * the  language 
of  our  country.’  The  Hebrew  had  long  before  his  time 
ceased  to  be  the  colloquial  language  of  the  Jews.  About 
600  years  B.C.  the  Aramaic  is  supposed  to  have  begun  to 
supersede  it;  this  takes  us  to  the  period  of  Jewish  captivity. 
Aram,  the  fifth  son  of  Sem,  is  the  supposed  ancestor  of 
the  people  inhabiting  both  borders  of  the  Euphrates  ; and 
the  land  on  both  borders,  in  Biblical  language,  is  called 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  175 


‘ Aram,’  more  so  Syria  proper  and  Arabia  Petraea.  The 
language  of  Aram  gradually  expanded  itself  over  the 
whole  of  the  western  countries,  and  was,  in  the  Persian 
period,  the  official  language  of  these  provinces.  The 
Jews,  having  learned  it  during  their  captivity,  as  the 
bilingual  texts  of  the  books  of  Daniel  and  Ezra  attest, 
brought  it  back  with  them  to  Palestine  as  their  col- 
loquial tongue.  Hebrew  therefore  does  not  answer  to 
what  Josephus  terms  ‘ the  language  of  our  country  ’ : the 
more  so  as  he  says  the  language  was  understood  by 
‘the  Parthians,  and  the  Babylonians,  and  the  remotest 
Arabians,  and  those  of  our  nation  beyond  the  Euphrates, 
with  the  Adiabeni.’  The  language  here  referred  to  by 
Josephus  can  be  no  other  than  the  Aramaic,  and  it  is 
now  generally  admitted  to  have  been  the  language 
of  his  text.  Similarly,  the  language  in  which  Matthew’s 
Gospel  was  written  was  the  Aramaic  tongue  spoken  by 
Christ  and  His  Apostles.  Yet  the  term  Hebrew,  applied 
by  older  writers  to  the  text  of  that  gospel  found  by 
Pantaenus,  demands  a word  of  explanation. 

The  Chaldaic  form  of  the  Aramaic  dialect,  used  to 
the  east  of  the  Euphrates  and  in  which  some  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  were  written,  is  found  in  the  Hebrew 
text  of  the  Scriptures,  written  in  Hebrew  letters,  though 
the  language  is  not  Hebrew,  but  Aramaic  or  Syriac  : 
hence  the  language  itself  with  reference  to  such  books 
came,  in  a general  way,  to  be  termed  Hebrew,  sometimes 
Chaldaic,  and,  in  our  old  English  form,  Chaldee.  The  text 
found  by  Pantaenus  is  stated  by  Eusebius  to  be  written 
' Eftpaiwv  ypd/j,/Aacn — ‘ in  Hebrew  characters  ’ ; the  transla- 
tion by  Vallesius  renders  it  Hebraicis  litteris  ; Rufinus,  in 
his  Latin  translation  of  Eusebius’  history,  uses  the  terms 
Hebraicis  scriptum  literis ; Jerome  (De  viris  illustr.,  cap. 
xxxvi.),  referring  to  the  same  codex,  expresses  himself, 
quod  Hebraicis  litteris  scriptum.  This  strict  exactness  of 
expression  adopted  by  these  three  learned  writers  may 


176  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

represent  the  fact  that  the  writing  was  in  Hebrew  char- 
acters, but  ought  not  to  be  extended  to  the  language  of 
the  text.1  The  gospel  then  in  question  being  in  the 
Aramaic,  there  would  be  no  object  or  use  for  it  in  India 
proper,  whereas  in  the  India  at  the  extreme  section  of 
Arabia,  where  dwelt  large  numbers  of  Jews  with  the 
Sabaeans,  it  would  be  read,  understood,  and  be  of  service 
to  keep  up  the  faith  preached  by  Bartholomew  after  his 
departure.  It  is  to  this  India  Pantaenus  must  have  gone. 

Proof  based  on  ecclesiastical  grounds  that  Pantaenus’ 
mission  from  Alexandria  was  to  the  Homeritae  is  offered 
by  Assemani.  We  learn  from  Jerome  that  Pantaenus 
was  sent  to  ‘ India  ’ by  his  bishop  St.  Demetrius,  the 
successor  of  Julian,  c.  189.  If  the  faith  was  taken  to  the 
Homeritae  from  Alexandria,  the  church  would  be  ecclesi- 

1 Eusebius  (Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  iii.  cap.  24)  treating  of  St.  Matthew 
says  : Evangelium  suum  patrio  sermone  conscribens  . . . relinquebat. 
He  quotes  (lib.  vi.  c.  25)  Origen’s  words  : Evangelium  scriptum  esse 
a Matthaeo  . . . qui  illud  Hebraico  sermone  conscriptum  Iudaeis  ad 
fidem  conversis  publicavit.  St.  Jerome,  writing  of  the  codex  of  the 
gospel,  kept  at  the  Library  collected  by  Pamphilus  Martyr,  says  ( De 
viris  illustr.  de  Matthaeo)  : Evangelium  Christi  Hebraicis  litteris  ver- 
bisque  composuit.  This  is  said  in  opposition  to  the  other  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  were  written  in  Greek.  It  becomes  apparent 
from  these  different  statements  that  the  term  1 in  Hebrew,’  as  we 
would  express  it  in  English,  should  be  taken  in  the  wider  sense  as 
mentioned  above.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  support 
this  view  by  further  authority.  Mgr.  Lamy  (Introd.  in  Sacr.  Script., 
Pars  ii.,  ed.  quarta,  Mechliniae,  1887,  c.  ii.  No.  5,  p.  215)  writes  : 
Omnes  novi  Testamenti  libri  Graece  exarati  fuerunt,  excepto  S.  Mat- 
thaei  Evangelio,  cujus  tamen  textus  graecus  ad  instar  textus  primi- 
genii  evasit.  . . . Omnia  porro  antiquitatis  documenta  testantur 
S.  Matthaeum  hebraice,  id  est  in  lingua  aramaica  palaestinensi, 
quae  etiam  syrochaldaica  vocatur  pro  popularibus  suis  fidem  Christi 
amplexis  suum  primitus  conscripsisse  Evangelium.  Then  follows  a 
list  of  Fathers  who  have  written  on  the  subject.  The  learned  Pro- 
fessor of  Syriac  takes  for  granted  that  the  expression  ‘ St.  Matthew’s 
gospel  was  written  in  Hebrew,’  used  by  some  of  the  Fathers,  does 
not  imply  that  the  language  of  the  text  was  the  Hebrew  idiom,  but 
on  the  contrary  expressly  asserts  the  same  to  have  been  the  Aramaic 
or  Syro-Chaldaic. 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  177 

l 

astically  linked,  and  would  look  up  to  that  see  as  the  head 
centre  of  its  faith  and  jurisdiction.  Had  it  come  to  them 
from  another  quarter  they  would  not  go  to  Alexandria, 
but  to  the  other  see  whence  the  Christian  faith  and  prac- 
tice had  come.  This  is  a point  beyond  all  dispute.  It  is 
on  this  well-known  principle  that  the  learned  Assemani 
argues  ( Bibl . Or.,  tom.  iv.  p.  602)  : Ex  his  dictis  patet 
Homeritarum,  &c.  Liquet  etiam  christianos  Homeritas 
olim  Alexandrino  Patriarchae  subjectos  fuisse,  qui  et 
ordinatos  a se  episcopos  illuc  mittebat.  The  case  of  the 
Homeritae  is  exactly  on  the  same  lines  as  that  of  the 
Abyssinian  Church,  as  we  shall  see  shortly ; and,  earlier, 
as  was  shown  previously  [cf  the  opening  of  Chapter 
II.),  the  prelates  of  the  Assyrian  or  Chaldean  Church  ac- 
knowledged a connection  and  a dependence  from  that  of 
Antioch.  So  the  Church  of  the  Homeritae  in  the  ancient 
land  of  the  Sabaeans — Arabia  Felix,  now  El  Yemen,  the 
land  of  ‘ the  Queen  of  the  South  ’ to  which  our  Blessed 
Lord  referred,  adapting  his  language  to  popular  ideas, 
that  7 she  came  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  ’ (Matt.  xii. 
42),  which  idea  is  found  also  expressed  by  a classical 
author  (Tacitus,  Historiar.,  lib.  v.  c.  6)  : Terra  finesque, 
quae  ad  Orientem  vergunt,  Arabia  terminantur — because 
of  the  mission  of  Pantaenus  from  Alexandria,  who 
revived  the  dying  embers  of  the  primitive  faith  implanted 
by  Bartholomew,  looked  to  that  see  for  a long  period 
as  the  centre  of  its  ecclesiastical  dependence. 

Tillemont  {Me moires  Hist.  Reel.,  tom.  i.  p.  387), 
summing  up  the  result  of  his  researches  regarding  the 
preaching  of  the  Apostle  Bartholomew,  says  : ‘We  have 
most  certain  evidence  that  he  preached  in  the  country 
which  the  ancients  called  the  Indies,  and  which  can 
be  no  other  than  Arabia  Felix.  . . . He  took  to  those 
Indies  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  written  in  Hebrew, 
and  St.  Pantaenus  after  a hundred  years  found  it  there.’ 

Rufinus,  the  priest  of  Aquileia,  in  his  own  portion 

M 


c7  ^ ? ^ ^ ^ 

178  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

of  the  history  of  the  Church  added  to  his  translation 
of  Eusebius’  text  (Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  i.  c.  9,  col.  478,  Migne, 
P.  L.,  tom.  xxi.),  writes  : ‘ In  the  division  of  the  world 
made  by  the  Apostles  for  the  preaching  of  the  word  of 
God,  by  drawing  lots,  while  different  provinces  fell  to 
different  Apostles,  Parthia  fell  to  Thomas,  to  Matthew 
Ethiopia,  and  the  adjacent  India  on  this  side  (citerior) 
is  said  to  have  been  assigned  to  Bartholomew.’  [The 
sequel  of  this  quotation  will  be  given  in  treating  of  the 
claims  of  Frumentius.]  As  to  Ethiopia  there  ought  to 
be  no  question  ; it  is  the  Ethiopia  of  the  ancients  which 
was  known  as  the  land  of  Kus,1  not  Abyssinia,  to  which 
country,  in  more  modern  times,  the  name  Ethiopia 
was  confusedly  attached.  Matthew  the  Apostle,  then, 
preached  the  faith  in  ancient  Ethiopia  ; it  was  some- 
times called  the  India  ‘ interior,’  and  would  so  appear  to 
those  who  wrote  of  it  from  Egypt  or  Palestine.  This  is 
precisely  the  case  with  Rufinus,  who,  born  c.  345,  died 
410,  had  lived  between  Egypt  and  Palestine  from  374  to 
398,  spending  the  last  ten  or  eleven  years  of  his  life 
in  Italy  when  he  published  his  works,  most  of  which 
were  probably  written  while  in  the  East,  for  during  the 
last  troubled  years  of  his  life  he  would  neither  have 
had  the  leisure  nor  time  sufficient  to  compose  what  has 
come  down  to  us  under  his  name  (see  Bardenhewer, 
Les  Peres  de  /’ Eglise,  ii.  pp.  360-61).  In  the  above  quota- 
tion he  tells  us  that  while  Matthew  went  to  Ethiopia,  ‘ the 
adjacent  India  on  this  side  ’ was  assigned  to  Bartholomew. 
This  clearly  designates  the  lower  extremity  of  Arabia,  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  so  in  a manner 

1 We  insert  here  the  important  witness  borne  by  Flavius  Jose- 
phus {Opera  omnia , Graece  et  Latine  recognovit  Guill.  Dindorf, 
Farisiis,  1845,  vol.  i.,  De  Antiquitaie  Judaeorum , lib.  i.  c.  vi.  n.  2)  on 
the  bearing  of  the  name  kus  : Ex  quatuor  enim  Chamae  [ Cham ] filiis, 
Chuso  [Chus,  Kus]  nihil  detrimenti  tempus  attulit  : nam  Aethiopes, 
quorum  princeps  fuit,  nunc  quoque  tarn  a se  ipsis  quarn  ab  Asianis 
omnibus  Chusaei  [Kus]  nominantur. 


Jq  L - V)  • Q n ' 

C\  V rou'fu- 

THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  179 

adjacent  to  Ethiopia.  This  further  implies  that,  accord- 
ing to  Rufinus,  the  Apostle’s  mission  was  to  the  Sabaei, 
who  inhabited  the  lower  extremity  of  Arabia. 

Should  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  correctness 
of  this  inference,  it  ought  to  be  completely  removed 
by  what  Socrates  says,  dealing  with  the  same  subject 
(Hist.  Eccl .,  lib.  i.  cap.  19,  col.  126,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L., 
tom.  lxvii.):  Cum  apostoli  praedicationis  causa  ad  gentes 
profecturi,  eas  inter  se  sortito  dividerent,  Thomas 
quidem  Parthiae,  Matthaeus  vero  Aethiopiae  apostolatum 
sortitus  est,1  Bartholomaeo  India  quae  Aethiopiae 
confinis  est,  obtigit.  ‘When  the  Apostles  about  to 
disperse  among  the  nations  to  preach  (the  faith),  divided 

1 An  echo  of  those  early  traditions  regarding  St.  Matthew’s  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  as  reported  by  Rufinus  and  Socrates,  has  been 
handed  down  by  the  missionary  Friar,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Cam- 
balec,  John  of  Monte  Corvino.  In  his  second  letter  dated  from  Cam- 
balec,  Quinquagesima  Sunday,  1306  (13th  February),  which  has  come 
down  to  us  in  two  separate  sections,  as  explained  in  our  Chapter  III. 
p.  89,  he  writes  in  the  second  section  recovered  more  recently, 
that  during  his  stay  in  India  ‘a  solemn  deputation  had  come  to  him 
from  a certain  part  of  Ethiopia,  begging  him  either  to  go  thither  to 
preach,  or  to  send  other  good  preachers  ; for  since  the  time  of  St. 
Matthew  the  Apostle,  and  his  immediate  disciples,  they  had  had  no 
preacher  to  instruct  them  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  they  had  an 
ardent  desire  to  attain  to  the  true  Christian  faith  (Yule’s  Cathay  and 
the  Way  Thither , vol.  i.  pp.  208-209). 

We  add  the  following  from  Wadding’s  Annates  Minorum , tom.  vi. 
p.  91,  anno  1307,  n.  vi.  7/z  margin  B.  Oder,  ad  an.  1306  mittunt 
ei  nuncios  TEthopes — Ultra  ea  quae  scripsit  anno  superiori  frater 
Johannes  a Monte  Corvino,  inquit  beatus  Odericus,  hoc  anno  narrat 
in  alia  a se  scripta  Epistola,  quod  solemnes  Nuncii  venerunt  ad  eum 
de  quadam  parte  vEthiopiae,  rogantes,  ut  illuc  pergeret  ad  praedi- 
candum,  vel  mitteret  Praedicatores  bonos,  quia  a tempore  beati 
Matthaei  Evangelistae,  et  discipulorum  ejus,  praedicatores  non 
habuerunt,  qui  eos  instruerent  in  fide  Christi,  et  multum  desiderant 
ad  veram  Christi  fidem  pervenire  ; et  si  Fratres  illuc  mitterentur, 
omnes  converterentur  ad  Christum  et  fierent  veri  Christiani  ; nam  sunt 
plurimi  in  civitate  qui  solo  nomine  Christiani  dicuntur  et  Christum 
credunt,  sed  de  Scripturis  et  sanctis  doctrinis  aliud  non  sciunt, 
simpliciter  viventes,  cum  non  habeant  praedicatores  et  doctores. 


180  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


these  among  themselves  by  lot,  Thomas  obtained  the 
apostolate  to  Parthia,  Matthew  to  Ethiopia ; to  Bar- 
tholomew fell  that  India  which  is  near  to  (bordering  on) 
Ethiopia.' 

The  mission  field  of  St.  Pantaenus,  then,  was  not  to 
‘the  India  of  the  Brahmans’  as  St.  Jerome,  deceived  by 
appearances,  has  stated.1 

We  may  here  appropriately  add  a few  words  regard- 
ing the  copy  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  found  years  later 
with  the  body  of  St.  Barnabas  on  the  island  of  Cyprus. 
A general  impression  prevails  that  the  copy  was  written 
in  Hebrew.  The  Roman  Martyrology  under  21  Septem- 
ber, the  feast  of  St.  Matthew  the  Evangelist,  says  : Hujus 
evangelium  Hebraeo  sermone  conscriptum,  ipso 
revelante,  inventum  est  una  cum  corpore  beati  Barnabae 
apostoli,  tempore  Zenonis  imperatoris.  The  reader  will 
notice  that  the  earlier  expression  used  by  historians, 
Hebraicis  litteris  scriptum,  is  here  changed  into  ‘ Hebraeo 

1 Epistola  lxx.  ad  Magnum  Oratorem  urbis  Romae,  Migne,  P.  Z., 
vol.  xxii.  col.  667,  n.  4,  Scriptores  Ecclesiastici  saecularibus  litteris 
ernditi : Pantaenus  Stoicae  sectae  philosophus,  ob  praecipuae 
eruditionis  gloriam,  a Demetrio  Alexandriae  episcopo  missus  est 
in  Indiam,  ut  Christum  apud  Brachmanas  et  illius  gentis  philosophos 
praedicaret. 

St.  Jerome  has  another  passage  in  his  writings  bearing  on  India, 
which  may  be  reproduced  here  for  the  information  of  the  reader  {oper. 
ut  supra.,  tom.  xxii,  Epistola  cvii.  ad  Laetam,  n.  2,  col.  870)  : De 
India,  Perside,  Aethiopia  monachorum  quotidie  turbas  suscipimus. 
The  letter  is  written  from  Palestine  ; the  reference  to  ‘ India  ’ — whence 
also  almost  daily  crowds  of  monks  arriving  were  entertained  by  him, 
will  appear  quite  inexplicable  if  it  be  applied  to  India  proper.  The 
other  countries  specified,  whence  they  came  in  large  numbers,  are 
Persia  and  Ethiopia  ; but  no  mention  is  made  of  Arabia  the  nearest 
to  Palestine,  whence  they  could  easily  have  come  in  large  bodies  as 
he  says.  May  not  Southern  Arabia  be  the  India  he  refers  to  ? If 
this  be  so,  as  appears  most  probable,  may  not  the  India  of  the  first 
quotation  also  refer  to  Southern  Arabia  ? This  would  show  that 
while  both  passages  referred  to  the  same  country,  Jerome  erroneously 
transferred  the  Brahmans  from  India  proper  to  El  Yemen. 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  181 


sermone.’  But  such  was  not  the  case.  It  has  often 
occurred  to  us  to  question  the  accuracy  of  this  state- 
ment. The  view  which  impelled  us  to  the  doubt 
arose  from  the  fact  that  Barnabas’  preaching,  from 
what  can  be  ascertained  from  the  canonical  books, 
was  to  Greek-speaking  populations,  and  he  himself 
was  a Cypriote.  Of  what  use  then  would  the  original 
Aramaic  text  of  that  gospel  be  to  him  ? Satisfactory 
evidence  is  forthcoming  that  places  the  subject  in  a 
clear  light. 

Theodore  Lector,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century 
( Excerpta  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  ii.  ed.  Valles,  Moguntiae,  1679, 
and  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.  tom.  lxxxvi.  1 a,  col.  183),  says : 
Barnabae  apostoli  reliquiae  in  Cypro  suo  sub  arbore 
siliqua  repertae  sunt  : super  cujus  pectore  erat  evangelium 
Matthaei  ipsius  Barnabae  manu  descriptum.  Qua  de 
causa  Cyprii  obtinuerunt  ut  metropolis  ipsorum  libera 
esset  ac  sui  juris,  nec  Antiochenae  sedi  amplius  sub- 
jaceret.  Id  evangelium  Zeno  deposuit  in  palatio  in 
aede  sancti  Stephani.  Further  details  are  given  in  the 
Bolland.  Acta  SS.  Junii,  tom.  ii.,  where  is  published  the 
Laudatio  S.  Barnabae  Apostoli  auctore  Alexandro  Monacho 
Cyprio  (c.  iv.  n.  41,  p.  450).  Invenerunt  etiam  evangelium 
supra  Barnabae  pectus  impositum  . . . and  n.  44,  p.  451  : 
evangelium  illud  in  urbe  Constantinopolim  attulerunt. 
Erant  autem  libri  tabellae  thyinis  lignis  compositae. 
Evangelium  illud  imperator  in  manus  sumpsit,  et 
deosculatus  est,  auroque  multo  exornatum  in  palatio 
suo  reposuit,  ubi  ad  hodiernum  usque  diem  servatur, 
et  in  magna  quinta  Paschae  feria  quotannis  in  palatii 
oratorio  Evangelium  ex  eo  libro  recitatur.  This  writer 
lived  during  the  reign  of  Justinian,  518-527. 

A Bollandist  Father,  in  a subsequent  volume  (Septr., 
tom.  vi.  col.  206),  quoting  this  passage,  draws  the  obvious 
conclusion : ‘ Haec  lectio  demonstrat  Graece  scriptum 
fuisse  illud  exemplar  ’ : and  this  offers  a fresh  proof  that 


182  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Matthew’s  Gospel  from  the  Aramaic,  called  also  Hebrew, 
had  been  translated  into  Greek  in  the  first  century.  A 
further  conclusion  also  follows  that  this  gospel  existed 
as  a distinct  work,  and  had  been  used  by  Barnabas  in 
the  first  century. 


II. — St.  Frumentius 

We  proceed  to  examine  the  credentials  of  the  next 
supposed  Apostle  of  India.  The  Roman  Martyrology 
places  the  feast  of  St.  Frumentius  on  the  twenty-seventh 
of  October.  ‘Among  the  Indians  [the  feast]  of  Saint 
frumentius,  bishop,  who  first  there  while  a captive, 
later  ordained  a bishop  by  St.  Athanasius,  preached  the 
Gospel  in  that  province.’  Rufinus  informs  us  that  he 
personally  received  from  the  lips  of  Edesius,  the  Saint’s 
relative  and  fellow-captive,  the  narrative  he  hands  down. 
There  seems  no  doubt  in  this  case  that  Rufinus  thought 
he  was  dealing  with  India  proper.  These  are  his 
words  : — 

‘ Between  which  [the  “ citerior  India  ” of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew previously  quoted]  and  Parthia  placed  midway,  but 
a long  way  in  the  interior  [which  would  probably  imply 
to  the  south]  lies  India  the  Farther,  inhabited  by  peoples 
of  many  and  divers  tongues,  and  which,  as  remote,  no 
ploughshare  of  apostolic  preaching  had  touched,  but 
which,  from  some  similar  cause,  in  the  days  of 
Constantine,  received  the  first  seeds  of  the  faith. 

‘ A certain  Metrodorus,  a philosopher,  impelled  by 
a desire  to  travel  through  the  world  and  see  the  different 
countries  thereof,  is  said  to  have  penetrated  into  Farther 
India.  Meropius  of  Tyre,  also  a philosopher,  anxious  to 
emulate  his  example,  desired  for  similar  reasons  to  visit 
India.  He  took  with  him  two  young  relatives  whom 
he  was  training  to  liberal  culture ; the  younger  of  these 
was  named  Edesius,  while  the  elder  bore  that  of  Fru- 
mentius. Having  completed  his  travels  and  seen  all 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  183 


he  wished,  and  picked  up  what  information  he  wanted, 
while  on  his  return,  the  ship  put  into  port  to  take  in 
water  and  provisions.  It  is  the  custom  of  the  barbarians 
of  those  parts  that  when  intelligence  reaches  them  from 
their  neighbours  that  peace  with  the  Romans  is  broken, 
they  attack  all  Romans  whom  they  find  in  their  country 
and  kill  them.  The  philosopher’s  ship  is  invested,  and 
all  the  ship’s  company  are  put  to  death  together  with 
him.  The  boys  are  discovered  under  a tree  learning 
their  lessons  ; touched  by  their  youth,  the  barbarians 
bring  them  to  the  prince. 

Edesius  is  made  a cupbearer  at  court,  while  Fru- 
mentius,  who  appeared  possessed  of  greater  intelligence 
and  ability,  is  raised  to  the  office  of  treasurer  and  secre- 
tary by  the  ruler  : they  were  both  held  in  esteem  and 
regard  by  the  prince.  The  king  before  his  death  gave 
the  young  strangers  their  liberty  and  freedom  to  act 
as  they  liked,  leaving  behind  a widow  and  a young  son. 
But  the  queen  begged  them,  as  being  the  most  trust- 
worthy in  the  kingdom,  to  remain  and  help  her  in  the 
government  of  the  country  until  her  son  came  of  age. 
She  was  specially  desirous  of  retaining  the  services  of 
Frumentius,  who  displayed  conspicuous  and  sufficient 
ability  to  govern  the  kingdom,  while  the  younger,  though 
of  a simpler  mind,  displayed  fidelity  and  goodness  of 
heart.  Frumentius  while  holding  the  government  of 
the  country,  God  moving  his  mind  and  heart,  sought  out 
from  among  the  Roman  traders  such  as  were  Christians, 
authorised  and  encouraged  them  to  erect  places  of 
worship  in  different  parts  where  Romans  could,  accord- 
ing to  their  usage,  assemble  for  prayer.  This  he  himself 
did  to  a much  greater  extent,  and  encouraged  others 
as  well  to  follow  his  example,  helping  them  in  every 
way  by  grants  of  sites  for  the  erection  of  these  churches, 
and  all  else  that  was  necessary  ; and  he  displayed  the 
greatest  interest  to  sow  there  the  germs  of  Christian  faith. 


184  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

‘When  the  young  prince  had  attained  manhood,  the 
two  strangers  decided  on  leaving  in  spite  of  entreaties 
to  remain.  Having  faithfully  handed  over  everything, 
they  took  leave  of  the  queen  and  her  son  and  returned 
to  our  world.  Edesius  hastened  to  Tyre  to  see  his 
parents  and  relations,  but  Frumentius,  deeming  it  un- 
becoming to  conceal  the  work  of  the  Lord,  went  to 
Alexandria.  There  he  explained  the  state  of  things  and 
disclosed  what  had  been  done  to  promote  the  cause 
of  religion.  He  urged  the  bishop  to  select  a worthy 
person  and  commission  him  to  the  charge  of  the  many 
Christians  now  gathered  together,  and  of  the  churches 
which  had  been  erected. 

‘Athanasius,  who  had  recently  been  ordained  to 
the  office  he  held,  having  duly  weighed  and  considered 
in  the  assembly  of  the  clergy  what  was  said  and  had 
been  done,  “Whom  else,"  he  exclaimed,  “shall  we  find 
endowed  as  thou  with  the  spirit  of  God,  and  competent 
to  do  what  is  required  ? " Having  ordained  1 him,  he 
bid  him  with  God’s  blessing  return  whence  he  had 

1 Tillemont  { ut  supr.,  tom.  vii.,  chapter  on  Frumentius,  p.  287) 
fixes  the  date  of  his  consecration  and  return  to  Abyssinia  at  c.  330.  But 
since  he  wrote,  the  ‘ Paschal’  or  Festal  Letters  of  St.  Athanasius  have 
been  recovered  in  a Syriac  translation  ; a summary  was  translated  in 
English  and  edited  by  Cureton,  London  1848  ; a full  Latin  translation 
was  published  by  Cardinal  Mai  in  Nova  PP.  Bibliotheca , Romae,  1853, 
tom.  vi.  1st  pt.,  and  is  also  to  be  found  in  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  vol.  xxvi.  col. 
1 35 1— 1444.  These  letters  make  it  certain  that  Athanasius  succeeded 
St.  Alexander  in  the  see  of  Alexandria  in  May  328  (see  Cureton,  op.  cit. 
praef.  xxxvii.).  He  died  after  a very  stormy  episcopate,  full  of  exile 
and  persecution,  but  at  the  close  of  his  career,  as  the  Lesson  of  the 
Breviary  aptly  remarks,  ‘ ex  tot  tantisque  periculis  divinitus  ereptus, 
Alexandriae  mortuus  est  in  suo  lectulo,’  2nd  of  May  373,  having 
governed  his  see  for  just  forty-five  years.  If  we  adhere  closely  to 
what  Rufinus  says,  ‘ Athanasius  who  had  been  recently  ordained 
to  the  office  [episcopate],’  we  can  take  for  the  consecration  of  Fru- 
mentius the  year  329,  i.e.  a year  earlier  than  that  assigned  by  Tille- 
mont, in  whose  time  the  exact  year  of  Athanasius’  election  was 
disputed.  The  death  of  Constantine  the  Great  occurred  in  337.  With 
these  settled  dates  before  us,  it  becomes  clear  that  there  was  no 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  185 


come.  On  his  return  to  India  as  bishop,  so  great  were 
the  favours  of  grace  God  bestowed  upon  him,  that  the 
wonders  of  the  apostolic  age  were  seen  anew,  and  an 
immense  number  of  these  people  were  converted  to 
the  faith.  It  is  since  then  that  India  has  had  a Christian 
people,  churches,  and  priesthood.  These  things,’  adds 
Rufinus,  ‘we  have  not  picked  up  from  popular  rumour, 
but  heard  them  from  the  lips  of  Edesius,  afterwards 
an  ordained  priest  of  Tyre,  who  had  formerly  been 
the  companion  of  Frumentius.’  (Rufinus,  Histor.  Eccl., 
lib.  i.,  cap.  9,  col.  478-480,  Migne,  P.  L.,  tom.  xxi.) 

Had  we  no  other  source  of  information  which  could 
throw  light  on  the  scene  of  Frumentius’  apostolic 
labours,  we  would  be  forced  to  admit,  however  it  might 
seem  on  other  grounds,  that  the  events  described  may 
have  taken  place  in  some  part  of  India  remote  from 
that  of  the  labours  of  the  Apostle  Thomas,  and  of  which, 
owing  to  some  unexplainable  cause,  no  local  trace  or 
memory  had  survived.  But  fortunately  we  possess  the 
means  of  identifying  the  India  of  Frumentius  by  the 
testimony  of  St.  Athanasius  himself  and  of  the  Emperor 
Constantius.  The  imperial  letter,  addressed  to  two 1 
princes  of  the  Auxumitae  (Abyssinians),  is  unanimously 
assigned  to  the  year  356.  The  emperor  demands 
of  them  that  Frumentius,  who  had  been  consecrated 
and  sent  by  Athanasius,  be  sent  back  to  Egypt  to 
render  an  account  of  his  faith  and  doings  to  George^ 
(the  Arian  intruder  in  the  see  of  Alexandria)  and  to 
the  bishops  of  Egypt,  who  would  test  his  fitness  and 
the  validity  of  the  consecration  he  had  received.  St. 

reason  to  question,  as  some  have  done,  Rufinus’  statement  that  in  the 
days  of  Constantine  the  first  seeds  of  the  faith  were  sown  by  Fru- 
mentius, whether  as  a captive  or  a bishop. 

1 Rufinus,  in  his  narrative,  speaks  of  one  prince,  whereas  the 
emperor  addresses  two  princes  of  Auxum  ; we  do  not  pretend  to  ex- 
plain the  discrepancy,  but  we  must  take  it  to  be  the  fact  that  two 
princes  were  then  holding  power  in  the  country. 


1 86  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Athanasius  incorporates  the  letter  which  had  come  to 
his  knowledge  in  his  defence  {Apologia)  addressed  to 
the  emperor.  Both  the  comment  and  the  letter  are 
given  below.1 

1 Sancti  Athanasii  Apologia  ad  Constantium  (Migne,  P.  Gr.-L., 
vol.  xxv.  631-635): — 

29.  Itaque  hi  cum  rumores  essent,  ac  sus  deque  omnia  abirent, 
ne  sic  quidem  meam  minui  alacritatem,  sed  pergebam  ad  tuam 
pietatem ; eoque  diligentius  quo  confiderem  ea  praeter  pietatis  tuae 
sententiam  perpetrari  ; atque  ubi  res  gestae  humanitati  tuae  com- 
pertae  forent,  te,  ne  in  posterum  ea  fierent,  curaturum,  ratus  nequid- 
quam  id  religiosi  esse  imperatoris,  ut  episcopos  exsulare,  virgines 
nudari,  aut  ullo  modo  ecclesias  turbari  patiatur.  Sed  haec  nobis 
animo  versantibus,  ecce  testis  quidem  increbuit  rumor  litteras  Auxu- 
meos  tyrannis  esse  datas  ut  curarent  Frumentium  Auxumeos  epis- 
copum  illinc  abduci ; me  quoque  perquirerent  usque  ad  barbarorum 
terras,  et  ad  praefectorum  commentaria,  ut  vocant,  transmitterent  : 
populos  ac  clericos  omnes  adigerent  ad  communicandum  cum  Ariana 
haeresi ; si  qui  non  morem  gererent,  illos  interficiendos  satagerent. 

31.  Constantius  Maximus  Augustus  ^Ezanae  et  Sazanae. 

Maximae  nobis  curae  et  studio  est,  ut  Deus  cognoscatur  ; hoc  in 
negotio  enim  arbitror,  parem  pro  communi  hominum  genere  sollici- 
tudinem  gerendam  esse,  ut  ad  Dei  notitiam  deducti,  vitam  cum  spe 
transigant,  in  nulloque  discrepent  circa  justi  ac  veri  disquisitionem. 
Cum  tali  igitur  nos  providentia  dignos  habeamus,  unam  eamdemque 
doctrinam  apud  utrosque  in  Ecclesiis  vigere  praecipimus.  Quare 
Frumentium  episcopum  quamprimum  mittite  in  Aegyptum  apud 
honoratissimum  Georgium  episcopum  et  alios  Aegypti  episcopos, 
quibus  in  primis  ordinandi  ac  ejusmodi  res  dijudicandi  auctoritas 
inest.  Nostis  enim  et  meministis,  nisi  quae  apud  omnes  in  confesso 
sunt,  soli  ignorare  simulatis,  Frumentium  in  hunc  vitae  gradum 
promotum  esse  ab  Athanasio  sexcentis  criminibus  obnoxio  ; qui  cum 
nullam  e sibi  illatis  accusationibus  probe  diluere  potuisset,  statim 
quidem  cathedra  excidit  : ac  cum  nullibi  vivendi  locum  reperiat, 
errabundus  ab  alia  in  aliam  regionem  vagatur,  quasi  eo  pacto  se 
malum  esse  effugere  possit. 

Si  igitur  sponte  Frumentius  obtemperet  universi  rerum  status 
rationes  redditurus,  compertum  omnibus  erit  eum  ab  Ecclesiae 
legibus  et  a fide,  quae  jam  obtinet,  nullatenus  discrepare  ; cumque  judi- 
catus  fuerit,  totiusque  vitae  suae  experimentum  dederit,  ejusque  ratio- 
nem  apud  eos  reddiderit  ad  quos  pertinet  hujusmodi  negotia  judicare, 
ab  eis  constituatur  ; si  tamen  verus  episcopus  juxtaque  leges  ordinatus 
haberi  velit.  Quod  si  procrastinaverit  ac  judicium  subterfugerit, 
palam  certe  erit  ipsum  scelestissimi  Athanasii  sermonibus  seductum 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  187 


Lequien  ( Oriens  Christiana , vol.  ii.  col.  643-44)  makes 
the  remark  that  Constantius’  letter  to  the  princes,  written 
for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the  expulsion  of  Frumentius 
from  Abyssinia  and  of  his  being  sent  to  George,  the 
intruder,  was  sent  at  the  suggestion  of  the  same  George, 
known  as  of  Cappodocia,  then  the  second  Arian  intruder 
into  the  see  of  Alexandria,  appointed  to  supersede  Athan- 
asius by  a Synod  of  some  thirty  bishops  held  at  Antioch^ 
He  captured  the  see  by  the  aid  of  the  Roman  military 
garrison,  but  subsequently  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
the  populace,  owing  to  his  tyrannical  conduct,  in  an 
insurrection  that  took  place  in  the  following  reign  of 
Julian  the  Apostate. 

The  efforts  made  to  oust  Frumentius  from  his  see 
and  to  capture  it  for  the  benefit  of  Arianism,  failed  of 
effect  in  spite  of  the  full  weight  of  imperial  support,1  as 
will  be  shown  more  fully  in  treating  of  the  next  case. 


impie  de  Deo  sentire,  ita  nempe  affectum  ut  ille  affectus  declaratus  est 
scelestus  cum  sit.  Verendumque  est  ne  Auxumim  praefectus  vestrates 
nefariis  et  impiis  sermonibus  corrumpat ; nec  solum  ecclesias  con- 
fundat  et  turbet,  in  Deumque  blasphemet,  sed  etiam  singulis  nationibus 
hinc  vastationis  et  excidii  auctor  sit.  Caeterum  habeo  ipsum  Fru- 
mentium  non  pauca  edoctum,  magnamque  in  publicum  bonum  utili- 
tatem  consecutum  venerabilissimi  scilicet  Georgii  consortio,  nec  non 
reliquorum,  qui  in  iis  docendis  apprime  versati  sunt  ad  suas  sedes 
reversurum  in  omnibus  ecclesiasticis  rebus  apprime  eruditum. 

Deus  vos  custodiat,  fratres  honoratissimi. 

In  the  admonitum  prefixed  to  this  Apologia,  col.  593-594,  it  is 
stated  of  the  Apologia  : ...  ad  annum  356  earn  haud  dubianter 
referimus.  Cf.  Cod.  Theodos.,  tom.  ii.  De  Legatis , where  a decree  of 
Constantius  is  found  regarding  the  expedition  of  imperial  messengers 
to  the  Auxumitae  and  Homeritae,  rightly  supposed  to  have  been  en- 
acted on  the  occasion  of  the  despatch  of  this  imperial  letter.  The  law 
bears  the  date  of  15th  January  356.  Theophilus’  mission  should  then 
be  placed  earlier,  in  c.  354,  as  the  imperial  letter  to  the  Auxumite 
princes  followed  upon  the  failure  of  that  mission. 

1 At  the  close  of  his  letter  the  emperor  styles  these  princes — 
fratres  honoratissimi — ‘ most  honoured  brethren,’  an  appellation  he 
would  not  have  bestowed  upon  them  had  they  not  become  Christians. 
This  discloses  the  success  of  Frumentius’  apostolate  among  the  Auxu- 


188  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


III. — Theophilus  the  Indian 

We  now  leave  “ India  citerior,”  the  Arabia  Felix  of 
the  ancients,  and  the  India  of  Frumentius,  Abyssinia, 
to  deal  with  a third  mission  which  is  also  said  to  be 
connected  with  India.  This  is  the  mission  which  the 
Emperor  Constantius  equipped  and  sent,  before  A.D.  356, 
c.  354,  at  the  head  of  which  he  placed  a certain  Theophilus, 
called  the  Indian.  The  emperor,  who  in  350  had  subdued 
one  rival,  and  later  crushed  the  usurper  Magnentius, 
thus  becoming  the  sole  ruler  of  the  Roman  empire,  set 
his  heart  on  establishing  Arianism  even  in  the  churches 
outside  the  boundaries,  as  he  had  supported  it  in  those 
within  the  empire.  This  was  the  impelling  motive 
that  suggested  the  despatch  of  the  mission  assigned  to 

mitae.  Rufinus  also  says  that  ‘ an  immense  number  of  these  people 
were  converted  to  the  faith.’  The  early  Arab  narratives  tell  a similar 
tale.  D’Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Orientate , ad  verb.  ‘ Habasch,’  says  : 
‘The  bishop  whom  St.  Athanasius  sent  them,  Salamah,  who  was  the 
first  to  baptize  them,’  &c.  The  Abyssinian  Church  keeps  the  feast 
of  St.  Frumentius  on  the  26th  July  and  1 8th  December.  In  both 
entries,  as  Ludolf  ( Calendar . Aethiopicum , in  his  Histor.  Aethiop .) 
observes,  ‘mutato  nomine’  he  is  styled  ‘Salama’;  he  also  mentions 
Codex  Paris  Bibl.  Regiae,  No.  796  (ibid.,  p.  74),  which  contains  a life 
of  Frumentius,  and  produces  from  the  same  an  extract  in  support  of 
the  change  of  name.  St.  Athanasius’  feast  is  also  kept  by  the  Abys- 
sinian Church,  7th  of  January,  and  he  is  styled  ‘ St.  Athanasius  the 
Apostle.’ 

Another  passage  of  the  imperial  letter  demands  a word  of  com- 
ment : ‘For  you  know  indeed  and  remember , unless  you  alone  pre- 
tend to  be  ignorant  of  what  is  known  to  all,  that  Frumentius  was 
raised  to  this  grade  of  life  by  Athanasius,  guilty  of  more  than  six 
hundred  crimes.’  Constantius  shows  full  knowledge  of  how  things 
stood  at  Auxum.  In  spite  of  the  emperor’s  emphatic  language  Fru- 
mentius retained  the  support  of  the  princes.  But  how  came  the 
emperor  to  be  so  accurately  informed  of  the  state  of  matters  ecclesi- 
tical  there  but  by  Theophilus — of  whom  we  shall  presently  treat — on 
his  return  after  the  failure  of  his  mission  to  Auxum  ? The  expression 
‘and  remember’  points  to  some  intimation  made  to  the  princes  and 
known  to  the  emperor.  The  letter  would  thus  offer  internal  evidence 
that  it  was  written  after  the  return  of  Theophilus’  mission. 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  189 

Theophilus.  Philostorgius 1 is  the  sole  historian  of 
this  event. 

‘ Constantius/  he  records,  ‘ sent  an  embassy  to  the 
people  formerly  known  as  the  Sabaeans,  but  now  the 
Homeritae,’  to  whom  the  Apostle  Bartholomew  had 
previously  preached  the  faith,  revived  as  we  have  seen 
by  Pantaenus.  ‘These  [Sabaei]  are  Abraham’s  issue 
by  Chittura  [Ketura].  The  country  was  known  to  the 
Greeks  as  “Arabia  Magna”  and  “Arabia  Felix,”  ex- 
tending to  the  farthest  ocean.  Saba  was  their  capital, 
whence  once  went  forth  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  see 
Solomon.’  The  race,  he  adds,  practises  circumcision 
on  the  eighth  day,  and  is  mixed  up  with  a large  number 
of  Jews  residing  among  them.  It  was  to  these  that 
Constantius  sent  the  mission.  The  historian  notes  care- 
fully the  object,  ‘that  they  might  be  brought  over  to  the 
true  faith,’  which  shows  clearly  that  the  chief  object  held 
in  view  was  to  ensnare  these  Christians  into  the  fold 
of  Arianism.  An  ostensible  object  set  forth  was  that 
of  obtaining  permission  from  the  ruler  of  the  country 
to  erect  churches  for  the  benefit  of  Roman  subjects 
frequenting  those  lands  for  purposes  of  trade,  as 
also  for  natives  who  might  be  converted.  The 
mission  was  amply  supplied  with  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion and  equipment  of  the  churches  that  were  to 
be  built. 

Theophilus,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  mission,  is 
called  ‘the  Indian.’  Of  him  the  historian  says,  qui 

1 This  author  wrote  his  history  in  twelve  books,  A.D.  423,  the 
first  letter  heading  the  commencement  of  each  book  formed  his  name 
— Philostorgius.  The  original  has  not  come  down  to  us,  but  we  have 
a compendium  (Photius,  Bibliotheca ),  and  a few  extracts,  chiefly  con- 
tained in  Suidas’  Lexicon.  Photius  (ibid.)  thus  briefly  expresses  his 
opinion  on  the  work  : ‘ It  is  an  eulogium  of  heretics  and  an  accusation 
of  the  orthodox  ; a vituperation  rather  than  a history’ ; the  writer  was 
an  Arian.  The  Compendium  and  Extracts  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Corpus  of  Greek  Ecclesiastical  Historians  with  notee  and  Latin 
translation  by  Valesius,  reproduced  by  Migne,  P.  G.-L.,  tom.  lxv. 


190  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


Constantino  imperium  administrate,  admodum  juvenis 
obses  a Divaeis  missus  fuerat  ad  Romanos — ‘Theophilus, 
while  very  young,  was  sent  an  hostage  to  the  Romans 
during  the  reign  of  Constantine  [the  Great].’  The 
island  home  of  Theophilus  is  by  the  historian  named 
Aifiovs  and  the  inhabitants  Aij. drjvwv ; the  Latin  form 
in  which  these  names  are  reproduced  is  Divu  or  Divus, 
that  of  the  inhabitants  Divaei.  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
a contemporary  historian,  A.D.  362,  makes  mention  of 
islands  with  a similar  name  ( History , bk.  xxii.  ch.  3)  : 
Legationes  undique  solito  ocius  concurrebant  ; hinc 
Transtigritanis  pacem  obsecrantibus  et  Armeniis,  inde 
nationibus  Indicis  certatim  cum  donis  optimates 
mittentibus  ante  tempus  ab  usque  Divis  et  Serendivis. 
— ‘ Legations  were  coming  in  from  everywhere  earlier 
than  usual'  [the  occasion  is  the  accession  of  Julian  the 
Apostate,  the  reference  is  to  the  sending  of  legations  by 
border  nations  on  friendly  terms  on  the  accession  of 
a new  emperor,  and  the  historian,  Ammianus,  it  should 
be  remembered,  is  a pagan]  ; ‘ on  the  one  hand  the 
nations  across  the  Tigris  and  the  Armenians  asking  for 
peace,  on  the  other  hand’  [what  follows  is  Yonge’s 
transl.,  Bohn  ed.]  ‘the  Indian  tribes  vied  with  each 
other,  sending  nobles  loaded  with  gifts  even  from  the 
Maidive  Islands  and  Ceylon.’ 

That  the  Maldives  were  specially  designated  by  the 
name  reproduced  from  the  Greek  text  of  Philostorgius, 
besides  the  support  received  from  a contemporary 
writer  just  quoted,  is  amply  upheld  by  a long  series  of 
quotations  given  by  Colonel  Yule  and  Burnell  ( Hobson - 
Jobson  ; A Glossary  of  Anglo-Indian  Colloquial  Words, 
new  edition  by  William  Crooke,  London,  1903)  : — 

'■Maldives:  The  proper  form  of  this  name  appears  to  be 
Male-diva.  . . . The  people  of  the  islands  formerly  designated 
themselves  and  their  country  by  a form  of  the  word  for  “ island,” 
which  we  have  in  the  Sanscrit  dvipa  and  the  Pali  dipo.  We  find 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  191 

this  reflected  in  the  Divi  of  Ammianus  [the  Greek  of  Philostorgius 
has  already  given  At fSovs]  and  in  the  Diva  and  Diba-jat  (Pers. 
plural)  of  old  Arab  geographers,  whilst  it  survives  in  letters  of  the 
eighteenth  century  addressed  to  the  Ceylon  Government  (Dutch) 
by  the  Sultan  of  the  Isles  who  calls  his  own  kingdom  Divehi 
Rajje,  and  his  people  Divehi  mihun. 

‘Year  851,  Yule  refers  to  the  Arab  geographers,  Relations, 
&c.,  traduit  par  Reinaud,  Paris,  1841,  vol.  i.  p.  45  ; these  give  the 
islands  the  name  Dibajat  (see  also  Discours  preliminaire  same 
vol.  p.  xxxiii.) 

‘Year  1030,  By  Al.  Beruni  (in  Reinaud’s  Fragmans,  p.  124) 
those  of  one  class  are  called  Diva-Kurah  (or  the  Cowrie  Divahs) 
because  of  the  cowries  which  are  gathered  from  coco-branches 
planted  in  the  sea ; the  others  are  called  Diva-Kaubar , from  the 
word  Kaubar,  which  is  the  name  of  the  twine  made  from  the 
coco-fibres  with  which  vessels  are  stitched. 

‘Year  1343,  Ibn  Batuta,  tom.  iv.  p.  no  ff,  speaks  of  his 
arriving  from  Calicut  at  the  island  called  Dhibat-al-Mahal.’ 

All  these  passages  refer  to  the  Maldives. 

As  to  the  modern  name  of  the  islands,  the  Maldives, 
Yule  has  the  following  : — 

‘Something  like  the  modern  form  first  appears  in  Ibn 
Batuta  : he  calls  them  Mahal-dives , and  says  they  were  so  called 
from  the  chief  group  Mahal,  a palace.  . . . But  Pyrard  de  Laval, 
the  author  of  the  most  complete  account  existing  [of  these 
islands]  also  says  that  the  name  of  the  island  was  taken  from 
Male.  This  name  is  given  by  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  to  the 
coast  of  Malabar,  and  it  is  most  probably  this  same  name  that 
enters  into  the  composite  Maldives .’ 

With  reference  to  the  true  bearing  of  Ammianus' 
passage  — ab  usque  Divis  et  Serendivis  — a further 
remark  may  be  offered  that  it  has  reference  to  the 
Maidive  group  generally,  that  the  object  of  the  passage 
is  to  show  that  delegations  also  hastened  from  the 
Indian  peoples,  even  from  the  Divi  and  the  Serendivi, 
pointing  to  them  as  the  outer  extremes  of  India  in  the 
natural  order  in  which  they  would  occur. 

There  is  a remark  made  by  the  historian  regard- 


192  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


ing  Theophilus  which  has  an  important  bearing  in  fixing 
his  island  home.  He  has  told  us  that  Theophilus,  while 
very  young,  was  sent  to  the  Romans  as  ‘a  hostage’; 
most  probably  he  was  not  the  only  hostage  demanded 
from  the  islanders.  Now  it  may  be  asked,  for  what 
purpose  would  the  Roman  power  demand  hostages 
for  good  behaviour  from  these  islanders  ? Most  prob- 
ably this  precaution  was  taken  as  a check  on  the 
piratical  habits  of  the  dwellers  who  would  pillage 
and  rob  vessels  crossing  to  India,  from  the  east  coast 
of  Arabia  or  via  Socotra,  which  happened  to  have 
stranded  on  those  coral  reefs.  This  would  also  be  the 
route  of  the  entire  Indian  commerce  bound  westward, 
which  in  those  days  passed  chiefly  through  Alexandria 
and  was  thence  diffused  through  the  empire,  while  the 
route  through  Persia  continued  to  be  closed  during  the 
long  wars  between  that  country  and  the  empire.  The 
same  predatory  habits  have  prevailed  down  to  our  times; 
for  though  the  Maldives  are  now  better  controlled  by  the 
Collector  at  Calicut,  who  is  the  representative  of  British 
authority  to  the  petty  Sultan  of  the  island  and  his  suzerain 
the  Rajah,  or  the  Bebee,  of  Cannanore,  the  same  cannot 
even  now  be  said  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  adjoining 
group,  the  Laccadives,  who  more  than  once  of  late 
years  have  forced  the  British  authorities  to  send  punitive 
expeditions  to  exact  reparation  and  inflict  punishment 
for  pillage  committed  on  stranded  ships.  The  last  occur- 
rence of  the  sort  happened  within  the  last  couple  of 
years.  The  mention  that  Theophilus  was  an  ‘ Indian,’  in 
the  sense  of  the  historian,  and  that  he  was  surrendered 
as  a hostage  to  the  Romans,  are  two  points  which  of  them- 
selves would  point  to  the  group  of  the  Maldives  as  his 
home.  The  Laccadives  would  hardly  have  been  inhabited 
at  so  early  an  age  ; besides  the  two  form  but  one  con- 
tinuous group  of  coral  reef  formations  in  those  seas. 

To  return  to  Philostorgius’  account.  The  youth 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  193 

received  his  education  while  among  the  Romans,  having 
lived  long  with  them  ; he  became  conspicuous  for  his 
piety  and  embraced  the  monastic  profession.  From  the 
approval  bestowed  on  his  faith  and  the  mention  that 
he  had  received  deacon’s  orders  from  Eusebius  [of 
Nicomedia],  the  court  prelate,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Theophilus  had  embraced  the  Arian  heresy. 
Photius,  the  abbreviator  of  the  narrative,  here  inserts 
an  observation  of  his  own  : ‘ This  refers  to  the  past, 
but  when  he  was  appointed  to  this  mission  he  received 
episcopal  consecration  at  the  hands  of  those  of  his 
communion.'  Philostorgius  continues:  ‘Theophilus 
was  successful  in  his  mission  to  the  Homeritae.' 
Among  other  presents  which  he  took  with  him  for  the 
rulers  and  chiefs,  he  embarked  also  ‘ two  hundred 
superb  Cappadocian  horses.'  The  king  was  converted 
by  the  legate’s  preaching,  and  built  of  his  own  accord 
three  churches.  Philostorgius  here  takes  notice  of  the 
large  proportion  of  Jews  in  the  country  and  of  their  strong 
opposition  to  Christians  ; on  this  occasion  though, 
owing  to  the  great  success  of  Theophilus’  mission,  ‘the 
usual  Jewish  fraud  and  malice,’  he  adds,  ‘was  compelled 
to  conceal  itself  in  deepest  silence.'  One  of  the  churches 
erected  was  at  the  metropolis  Tapharon,1  another  at 

1 This  city  is  named  in  Periplus  Saphar,  a variation  of  Taphar, 
Tapharon  ; it  is  {here,  § 23,  styled  ‘the  Metropolis  of  Karibael,  the 
rightful  sovereign  of  two  contiguous  tribes,  the  Homeritai  and  the 
Sabaitai.’  McCrindle  (in  his  ed.  of  the  Periplus  Maris  Erythraei , 
London,  Bombay,  and  Calcutta,  1879,  p.  80),  adds  the  following  com- 
ment : ‘ Saphar,  the  metropolis  of  the  Homeritai — i.e.  the  Himeryi— the 
Arabs  of  Yemen,  whose  power  was  widely  extended  not  only  in  Yemen, 
but  in  distant  countries  to  the  east  and  west.’  Saphar  is  called  Sapphar 
by  Ptolemy  ; it  is  now  Dhafar,  Dsoffar,  and  Zaphar.  In  Idrisi  it  ap- 
pears as  Dhofar,  and  he  thus  writes  of  it ; ‘ It  is  the  capital  of  the 
district  of  Jahssel.  It  was  formerly  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
famous  cities.  The  Kings  of  Yemen  made  it  their  residence,  and 
there  was  to  be  seen  the  palace  of  Zeddan.  These  structures  are  now 
in  ruins,  and  the  population  has  been  much  decreased,  nevertheless 
the  inhabitants  have  preserved  some  remnants  of  their  ancient  riches.’ 

N 


194  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

the  Roman  emporium  projecting  on  the  outer  sea  named 
Adane,1  the  third  in  that  part  of  the  country— ubi 
Persicum  est  emporium2  celebre,  in  ostio  maris  Persici 
quod  inibi  est,  situm — ‘ where  the  celebrated  Persian 
emporium  at  the  entrance  of  the  Persian  Gulf  is 
situated.’ 

The  ruins  of  the  city  and  palace  still  exist  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Jerim.  The  place  is  mentioned  in  the  Ming  Annales  of  China  as 
Tsafarh , and  as  being  a Mahommedan  country.  Marco  Polo  (Yule’s 
2nd  ed.,  vol.  ii.  p.  441)  gives  the  following  description  of  the  place  : 

‘ Dufar  is  a great  and  noble  and  fine  city,  and  lies  500  miles  to  the 
north-west  of  Esher.  The  people  are  Saracens  and  have  a Count 
(Sheik)  for  their  chief,  who  is  subject  to  the  Soldan  of  Aden;  for  this 
city  belongs  to  the  Province  of  Aden.  It  stands  upon  the  sea  and  has 
a very  good  haven,  so  that  there  is  a great  traffic  of  shipping  between 
this  and  India  (viz.,  the  Kingdom  of  Ma’bar,  p.  324),  and  merchants 
take  hence  great  numbers  of  Arab  horses  to  that  market,  making 
great  profit  thereby.  This  city  has  under  it  many  other  towns  and 
villages.’  It  was  pre-eminently  'the  frank-incense  land’  of  the 
ancients. 

1 Adane  in  the  Periplus,  § 26,  is  called,  ‘ Eudaimon  Arabia, 
a maritime  village  subject  to  that  kingdom  of  which  Kharibael  is 
sovereign.  It  is  called  Eudaimon,  “rich  and  prosperous,”  because  in 
bygone  days,  when  the  merchants  from  India  did  not  proceed  to 
Egypt,  and  those  from  Egypt  did  not  venture  to  cross  over  to  the 
marts  farther  east,  but  both  came  only  as  far  as  this  city,  it  formed  the 
common  centre  of  their  commerce,  as  Alexandria  receives  the  wares 
which  pass  to  and  fro  between  Egypt  and  the  ports  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Now,  however,  it  lies  in  ruins,  the  emperor  [Augustus]  having 
destroyed  it  not  long  before  our  own  times.’  It  will  hardly  be  neces- 
sary to  tell  the  reader  that  Adane  is  the  well-known  port  of  Aden. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  it  regained  its  former  commercial  importance 
and  prosperity.  It  was  found  by  Marco  Polo  in  this  flourishing  state, 
and  he  says  that  all  the  Indian  trade  was  landed  there,  and  thence 
merchants  trading  with  Egypt  would  convey  it  in  small  vessels  for 
a journey  of  seven  days,  when  it  would  be  landed,  loaded  on  camels, 
and  conveyed  to  the  Nile,  a distance  of  thirty  days’ journey,  and  thence 
by  river  to  Alexandria.  The  Portuguese  under  Albuquerque  captured 
the  place  and  destroyed  it  later  on.  But  owing  to  the  natural  advan- 
tages of  its  situation,  though  placed  on  a barren  rock,  it  has  in  our 
days  under  British  sway  more  than  regained  its  former  importance. 

2 The  emporium  localised  in  ostio  maris  Persici  but  not  named, 
is  Oman,  our  present  Sohar  ; the  gulf  in  front  still  retains  the  older 
name  and  is  marked  in  charts  ‘the  Gulf  of  Oman.’  The  following  is 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  195 


Under  such  happy  circumstances  Theophilus  ar- 
ranged matters  among  the  Homeritae  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  consecrated  the  three  new  churches 
and  supplied  them  with  ornaments ; then  he  sailed  for 
his  native  island,  one  of  the  group  of  the  Maldives, 
as  indicated  above.  The  narrative  continues  : ‘ Thence 
he  sailed  to  other  parts  of  India  and  reformed  many 
things  which  were  not  rightly  done  among  them  ; for 
they  heard  the  reading  of  the  Gospel  in  a sitting 
posture,  and  did  other  things  which  were  repugnant 
to  the  divine  law ; and  having  reformed  everything 
according  to  holy  usage,  as  was  most  acceptable  to 
God,  he  also  confirmed  the  dogma  of  the  Church.' 
This  denotes  an  attempt  to  introduce  his  heretical 
tenets.  The  Arian  historian’s  last  remark  has  justly 
excited  the  indignation  of  Photius  : ‘Nor  with  regard  to 
divine  worship,'  as  this  impious  historian  remarks,  ‘ was 
any  emendation  necessary,  as  from  the  earliest  antiquity 

from  Colonel  Miles  (J.  R.  A.  Soc.,  new  series,  vol.  x.,  1878,  p.  164)  : 
‘ The  city  of  Oman  is  Sohar,  the  ancient  capital  of  Oman,  which 
name,  as  is  well  known,  it  then  bore  ; and  Pliny  seems  to  be  quite  right 
in  correcting  former  writers  who  had  placed  it  in  Carmania.’  The 
Periplus , § 36,  says  : ‘ If  you  coast  along  the  mouth  of  the  gulf,  you 
are  conducted  by  a six  days’  voyage  to  another  seat  of  trade  belonging 
to  the  Persis  called  Omana.’  Philostorgius  has  called  it  ‘ Persicum 
emporium.’  It  is  difficult  to  say  for  what  reasons  it  came  to  be 
known  as  the  ‘ Persian  ’ emporium.  It  would  perhaps  not  be  amiss 
to  suppose  that  the  appellation  may  be  due  to  a prior  supremacy  of 
Persia  over  that  portion  of  Arabia  ; anyhow  this  was  not  the  case 
in  Philostorgius’  time,  for  the  port  then  formed  part  of  the  territories 
of  the  prince  ruling  at  Tapharon  who  erected  there  the  third  Christian 
church.  Pliny  (vi.  32)  writes  of  it  : Homana  quae  nunc  maxime  cele- 
brari  a Persico  mari  negotiatores  dicunt ; here  the  reason  assigned 
is  that  it  lies  in  the  Persian  Gulf.  Idrisi  calls  it  ‘one  of  the  oldest 
cities  of  Oman  and  one  of  the  richest.  It  was  in  ancient  times  fre- 
quented by  merchants  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  voyages  to 
China  used  to  be  made  from  it.’  Marco  Polo  mentions  it  under  the 
name  of  Soar,  as  one  of  the  ports  that  exported  horses  to  southern 
India.  In  modern  times  it  has  been  superseded  by  Muscat  situated 
farther  south. 


196  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

they  had  continuously  believed  the  Son  to  be  of  a 
different  substance  from  the  Father.' 

To  ascertain  which  were  the  above  ‘other  parts  of 
India  ' Theophilus  visited,  it  will  be  as  well  to  follow 
the  sequel  of  the  narrative  given  by  Photius.  Philos- 
torgius  then  makes  him  leave  Arabia  and  proceed  to 
Abyssinia  : ‘ From  this  Arabia  Magna  Theophilus  pro- 
ceeds to  the  Ethiopians,  who  are  named  Auxumitae. 
They  dwell  on  the  first  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  which  the 
ocean  there  forms,  indenting  the  continent.’  So  the 
journey  does  not  take  Theophilus  to  Socotra  ; but  on 
his  return  to  ‘Arabia  Magna,’  after  the  visit  to  ‘other 
parts  of  India  ’ from  his  island  home,  he  is  sailing 
straight  through  the  Straits  of  Bab-el  Mandeb  and  enter- 
ing the  Red  Sea.  This  disposes  of  the  myth  of  a modern 
writer,  who  makes  Theophilus  a native  of  Socotra,  quite 
forgetful  of  the  fact,  as  will  presently  appear,  that  he 
never  visited  the  island,  according  to  Philostorgius 
(Milne-Rae’s  Syrian  Church  in  Lidia , p.  98). 

The  question  will  now  arise,  To  what  ‘other  parts 
of  India’  did  Theophilus  sail  when  he  left  his  island 
home  ? We  may,  on  the  same  basis,  shape  the  question 
differently:  To  what  ‘other  parts  of  India'  could  he 
have  gone  from  his  home  in  the  Maldives  ? Geographi- 
cally there  are  but  two  places — Ceylon  and  the  Malabar 
coast,  both  at  a short  sail  from  the  Maldives. 

Of  Ceylon,  apart  from  the  consideration  that  Ceylon 
was  well  known  to  Romans  and  Greeks  under  the  name 
of  Serendivus  and  Taprobana,  and  would  have  been 
mentioned  by  its  distinctive  name  if  the  reference  was 
to  that  island,  we  have  no  authority  based  on  history, 
that  Christians  existed  on  the  island  at  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  the  date  of  the  mission  we  are  dealing 
with.  When  we  hear  of  Ceylon,  almost  a hundred  and 
eighty  years  later,  from  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  who 
visited  it  after  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixth  century  (he 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  197 

was  writing  his  book  in  535)  he  mentions  the  presence  of 
Christians  and  of  clerics.  The  passage  (Migne,  P.  Gr.-L ., 
tom.  lxxxviii.  col.  446)  reads  : ‘There  exists  on  the  island, 
which  is  named  Sielediva  by  the  Indians  and  called 
Taprobona  by  the  Greeks,  a Christian  Church  of 
strangers  from  Persia,  also  a priest  ordained  in  Persia 
and  sent  there,  also  a deacon  with  other  ecclesiastical 
ministry  [clerics].  The  natives,  however,  and  the  kings 
are  of  a different  religion.' 1 

This  distinctly  shows  that  such  Christians  as  Cosmas 
found  in  Ceylon  were  a colony  of  Persian  traders 
with  Persian  clergy  to  attend  to  their  spiritual  wants. 
This  system  has  been  kept  up  in  the  large  Indian 
seaport  trading  centres  even  to  our  times,  Armenians 
taking  the  place  of  the  Persian  clergy.  As  to  native 
converts,  Cosmas  pointedly  says  there  were  none.  We 
are  thus  justified  in  inferring  that  ‘the  other  parts 
of  India’  visited  by  the  emperor’s  legate  does  not 
apply  to  Ceylon.  This  forces  upon  us  the  one  re- 
maining conclusion  that  ‘the  other  parts  of  India’ 
visited  by  Theophilus  can  be  no  other  than  the  Malabar 
coast  on  which  he  found  the  organisation  of  a native 
Christian  church  which  the  subsequent  narrative  dis- 
closes. Nor  will  this  take  the  reader  by  surprise  : he 
knows  already  some  details  of  the  Apostolate  of  Saint 
Thomas  in  India  ; he  has  learnt  of  his  martyrdom,  of 
the  existence  of  his  primitive  tomb  at  Mylapore  on  the 
east  coast ; and  he  is  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of 
the  Saint-Thomas  Christians  on  the  west  coast,  who,  as 
also  the  former  Christians  of  Socotra,  lay  claim  to  be  the 
descendants  of  the  converts  of  the  Apostle.  If  then, 
he  learns  of  Theophilus’  visit  to  that  coast  about  the 


1 Exstat  autem  ea  in  insula  (quae  ab  Indis  Sielediva,  a Graecis  Taprobona 
vocatur)  Ecclesia  Christi  advenarum  ex  Perside,  ac  presbyter  in  Perside 
ordinatus  eoque  missus,  diaconus  item  cum  reliquo  ecclesiastico  ministerio  : 
indipenae  vero  et  una  reges  alieni  cultus  sunt. 


198  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


year  354,  and  of  his  finding  there  a Christian  church  in 
working  order,  it  will  be  nothing  more  than  what  he  is 
prepared  to  expect.  The  English  translation  of  the 
passage  in  which  the  historian  mentions  the  visit  paid  to 
these  Christians  by  the  imperial  legate  has  been  given 
above  ; we  reproduce  here  the  Latin  version  by  Valesius  : 
Ad  alias  Indiae  regiones  perrexit,  multaque  quae  apud 
illos  non  rite  fiebant,  emendavit.  Nam  et  lectiones 
Evangelii  audiebant  sedentes,  et  alia  quaedam  peragebant 
quibus  divina  lex  repugnabat.  Verum  cum  Theophilus 
singula  juxta  sanctiorem  ritum,  Deoque  magis  acceptum 
correxisset,  Ecclesiae  quoque  dogma  confirmavit  (Migne, 
P.  G.-L.}  tom.  lxv.  col.  482-490).  The  statement  implies 
(1)  a resident  congregation  of  the  faithful,  (2)  church 
services  regularly  held  at  which  the  gospels  were  read, 
and  (3)  consequently  a ministering  clergy.  This  dis- 
closes a Christian  community  constituted  in  parochial 
form ; and  if  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  whether  the  con- 
gregation be  indigenous  or  foreign,  such  doubt  (4)  ought 
to  be  set  aside  by  the  peculiar  custom  found  among 
them,  mentioned  by  the  historian,  and  referred  to 
below,  which  Theophilus  is  said  to  have  reformed. 

At  this  period  the  Christians  on  this  coast  must  have 
held  the  faith  unadulterated.  But  the  case  was  quite 
different  at  the  period  of  Cosmas’  visit  before  535. 
Nestorianism,  in  the  person  of  its  author,  was  con- 
demned, close  upon  a century  after  Theophilus’  visit,  in 
the  Council  of  Ephesus,  431 ; Theodosius,  in  435,  passed 
a law  against  Nestorianism  ; and  in  the  year  496,  Acacius, 
the  Catholicus  of  Seleucia,  died  peacefully.  With  him 
ended  the  series  of  the  Catholic  occupants  of  that  see. 
Babaeus,  a fervent  Nestorian,  succeeded  him.  He,  in 
499,  held  a synod  authorising  marriage  among  the  clergy 
and  monks,  and  condemning  celibacy  (Assemani,  Bibl. 
Oriental.,  tom.  iv.  pp.  80,  83).  So  with  the  close  of 
the  fifth  century  Nestorianism  had  captured  all  the 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  199 

Catholic  churches  within  the  kingdom  of  Persia.  Thus 
this  heresy  early  in  the  sixth  century  would  have  in- 
stalled itself  in  all  the  churches  of  the  Farthest  East, 
dependent  as  they  were  from  the  see  of  Seleucia;  all 
intercourse,  besides,  with  those  within  the  Roman  empire 
was  severed  by  the  active  part  the  kings  of  Persia  took 
in  hindering  such  communication.1 

Philostorgius,  in  referring  to  the  visit  paid  to  the 
Christians  in  ‘the  other  parts  of  India’  by  Theophilus, 
mentions  as  a custom  prevailing  among  them  that  they 

1 Besides  the  passages  given  in  the  text,  Cosmas  makes  mention  in 
another  ( Topographia , ut  supr.,  col.,  170)  of  the  churches  in  Ceylon 
and  India  : In  Taprobana  insula  ad  interiorem  Indiam,  ubi  Indicum 
pelagus  exstat,  ecclesia  christianorum  habetur,  ubi  clerici  et  fideles 
reperiuntur,  an  ulterius  etiam  ignore — that  these  were  foreign 
Christians  consisting  probably  of  traders  we  have  already  learnt  from 
him,  and  he  adds,  ‘ whether  also  farther  [East],  I know  not.’  He  then 
continues  : Similiter  in  Male,  ut  vocant,  ubi  gignitur  piper.  In  Caliana 
vero  (sic  nuncupant)  episcopus  est  in  Perside  ordinari  solitus  : simili- 
terque  in  insula  quae  Dioscoridis  vocatur  in  eodem  mari  Indico.  This 
is  followed  up  by  an  extensive  enumeration  of  churches  in  Asia,  Africa, 
and  some  parts  of  Europe.  Commenting  on  this  passage  the  learned 
Assemani  ( Bibl . Or.,  tom.  iv.  p.  91)  writes  : Cosmas  Indicopleustes 
in  sua  Topographia  christianae  religionis  in  Perside,  Indiaque  faciem 
saeculo  sexto  ejusmodi  exhibet.  Omnes,  inquit,  quotquot  in  Perside, 
India  et  Arabia  Felice  christiani  degebant  Catholico  Persidis  subditi 
erant,  a quo  etiam  ordinabantur  earum  regionum  episcopi.  Ipsius 
Cosmae  aevo,  hoc  est  anno  circiter  530  Patritius  Thomae  Edesseni 
magister  ad  Archiepiscopales  totius  Persidis  thronos  evectus  est. 
Catholicus  Persidis  in  Calianam  episcopum  ab  se  ordinatum  mittere 
solebat.  In  Male,  sive  Malabar,  aderat  christianorum  ecclesia  ; 
similiterque  in  Sieldiva  insula  (Silan)  ecclesia  christianorum,  cum 
presbytero  et  diacono  in  Perside  ordinatis  ac  reliquo  ecclesiastico 
ministerio.  Item  apud  Bactros,  Hunnos,  reliquos  Indos,  &c.  Per- 
sidis autem  Archiepiscopus,  ut  notat  cl.  Montfaucon,  Nestorianus 
erat,  ut  alii  omnes  episcopi  et  presbvteri  ejusdem  subditi  ; then  follow 
quotations  from  Cosmas’  work.  This  shows  clearly  that  the  churches 
comprised  in  Cosmas’  enumeration  were  addicted  to  the  Nestorian 
heresy.  Consequently  by  the  year  530  the  Christians  in  Male,  Mala- 
bar, had  been  captured  in  the  Nestorian  net.  The  credit  of  detecting 
that  Cosmas  himself  was  a Nestorian  is  due  to  La  Croze  ; see  his 
Histoire  de  Christianisme  des  hides,  La  Haye,  1724,  pp.  27-37. 
Assemani  also  (ut  supr.,  pp.  405-406)  gives  him  full  credit  for  it. 


200  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


remained  seated  while  the  gospel  was  being  read  at  the 
liturgy.1  The  habit  of  the  west  coast  people  of  sitting 
down  on  the  floor  as  often  as  permissible  is  quite 
characteristic,  and  it  may  be  that  it  also  extended  to 
their  remaining  in  that  posture  at  the  reading  of  the 
gospel.  The  propensity  to  ‘squat’  which  the  incident 
indicates  would  only  be  applicable  to  an  indigenous,  and 
would  not  apply  to  a foreign,  congregation.  As  to  what 
other,  if  any,  abuses  were  suppressed  it  is  needless  to 
speculate,  for  were  they  of  any  importance  the  historian 
would  not  have  omitted  to  mention  them,  as  his  pro- 
pensity to  enlarge  upon  and  magnify  the  success  of 

1 The  usage  of  standing  while  the  gospel  is  read  during  mass 
has  probably  come  down  from  Apostolic  times,  like  most  principal  rites 
connected  with  the  Liturgy.  Mention  of  this  custom  is  made  in  the 
Apostolical  Constitutions , which,  though  apocryphal,  drawn  up  by 
one  or  more  authors,  is  admitted  by  all  scholars  to  record  the  early 
practices  of  the  Church  and  its  discipline  (lib.  ii.  cap.  57):  ‘When 
the  gospel  is  being  read  let  all  the  presbyters,  the  deacons,  and  all 
the  people  stand  in  perfect  stillness.’  St.  Anastasius  I.,  Pope  (398-402), 
is  reported  in  the  Breviary  Lessons  to  have  ‘ ordained  that  when- 
ever the  holy  gospels  are  read  presbyters  be  not  seated  but  stand 
with  heads  bent  ( curvi ).’  St.  Isidore  of  Pelusium  (died  c.  440), 
Epist.  Hermino  Comiti.,  writes  : ‘When  the  True  Shepherd  becomes 
present  through  the  opening  of  the  adorable  gospels,  the  bishop  both 
rises  and  lays  aside  the  omophorioti  which  he  wears  symbolical  of 
him.’  The  omophorion  is  one  of  the  sacred  vestments  used  by 
Greek  and  Eastern  bishops.  It  consists  of  a band  of  woollen  material 
ornamented  with  crosses  and  gold  braiding ; it  can  be  raised  over 
the  head  or  dropped  on  the  shoulders,  the  ends  falling  forward. 
It  symbolises  the  idea  of  carrying  a sheep  on  one’s  shoulders,  and 
the  reference  is  to  this.  Amalcarius,  a priest  of  Metz  and  Chor- 
episcopus,  writing  about  836  (de  Eccl.  Offic.,  lib.  iii.  cap.  18),  of  the 
gospel,  says  : ‘ Up  to  this  time  we  sit ; now  we  must  stand  at  the 
words  of  the  gospel.’ 

The  practice  of  keeping  a sitting  posture,  observed  by  Theophilus 
among  the  peoples  of  ‘ the  other  parts  of  India,’  is  not  the  only  known 
instance  of  deviation  from  the  ecclesiastical  usage.  Sozomen  {Hist. 
Eccl.,  lib.  vii.  cap.  19)  tells  us  that  ‘ among  the  Alexandrians  this  new 
and  unbecoming  custom,  that  while  the  gospels  were  read  the  bishop 
did  not  rise’  prevailed;  and  he  adds,  ‘which  I have  neither  seen 
nor  heard  done  elsewhere.’ 


THE  ALLEGED  APOSTLES  OF  INDIA  201 


Theophilus’  mission  is  too  apparent.  Photius  is  quite 
right  in  stigmatising  as  a piece  of  impudence  the  further 
statement  that  these  Christians  had  all  along  held  the 
Arian  belief,  denying  the  equality  of  substance  in  the 
Son  and  the  Father. 

After  mentioning  the  departure,  as  above,  of  the 
mission  for  Abyssinia,  the  writer  proceeds  to  give  the 
configuration  of  the  Red  Sea.  It  ‘extends  for  a great 
length  and  divides  itself  into  two  gulfs  ; one  lies  towards 
Egypt,  and  is  named  Clysma  from  the  place  where  it 
ends,  and  across  this  gulf  the  Israelites  passed  dry- 
shod  on  their  departure  from  Egypt.  The  other  gulf 
extends  to  Palestine  by  the  city  known  from  remote 
antiquity  as  Aila  [Elath].  At  the  outer  bay  of  this  sea 
[viz.,  to  the  south]  to  the  left  dwell  the  Auxumitae, 
so  named  from  Auxum  their  capital.  Before,  how- 
ever, reaching  the  Auxumitae,  to  the  east,  in  the  outer 
sea,  dwell  Syrians  also  so  called  by  the  inhabitants.’ 
This  refers  to  the  island  of  Socotra,  and  we  shall 
find  that  it  was  not  visited  by  Theophilus.  These 
Syrians,  he  says,  were  placed  there  by  Alexander, 
having  been  removed  from  Syria ; even  in  his  day  they 
made  use  of  the  Syriac  language  and  were  quite  dark 
in  complexion;  ‘but  Theophilus  did  not  go  so  far,' 
he  adds.  This  passage  is  quoted  by  geographers  as 
relating  to  Socotra.  Indicopleustes  has  a similar  passage 
( Topographia , lib.  iii. , Migne,  ut  supr.,  col.  170)  : Similiter 
[ i.e . there  are  Christians]  in  insula  quae  Dioscoridis 
vocatur,  in  eodem  mari  Indico  sita,  cujus  incolae  Graece 
loquuntur,  suntque  coloni  a Ptolomaeis  Alexandri  Mace- 
donis  successoribus  istuc  deportati,  clerici  reperiuntur 
ex  Perside,  ubi  ordinantur,  eodem  transmissi  : ibi  etiam 
christianorum  multitude  versatur.  Cui  insulae  adnavi- 
gavi,  neque  tamen  eo  discensum  feci.  Verum  cum 
quibusdam  ejus  incolis  Graece  loquentibus  colloquia 
miscui  qui  in  Aethiopiam  [Auxum  ?]  proficiscebantur. 


202  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


As  to  the  visit  paid  to  Abyssinia  by  the  imperial 
mission,  we  are  simply  told  in  a couple  of  lines  that 
Theophilus  went  there,  arranged  affairs  suitably  and 
returned  to  the  Roman  dominions.  This  excessive 
curtness  discloses  the  utter  failure  of  the  embassy  to  the 
petty  princes  of  the  Auxumitae,  where  St.  Frumentius  at 
the  time  was  firmly  established. 

Of  Theophilus  we  learn  from  Photius'  epitome  this 
further  detail,  that  on  his  return  he  was  honourably 
received  by  the  emperor,  but  obtained  no  appointment 
to  any  episcopal  see.  Suidas,  however,  in  his  Lexicon 
(ed.  Bernhardy,  Graece  et  Latine,  Halis  et  Brunsvigae, 
1853,  ad  verb.  0eo$tA.o?,  col.  1150),  has  saved  the  last 
portion  of  the  narrative:  ‘Theophilus  on  his  return 
from  India  fixed  his  residence  at  Antioch  ; he  was  in 
charge  of  no  particular  church,  but  acted  as  a bishop  at 
the  service  of  all,  so  that  all  freely  went  to  him  as  if  he 
were  their  bishop  [which  could  only  be  true  in  regard 
to  the  scattered  Arians  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Antioch] 
since  the  emperor  held  him  in  great  respect : wherever 
he  went  he  was  cordially  received  and  held  in  esteem 
for  his  virtues.’ 


CHAPTER  VI 


DID  THOMAS,  A DISCIPLE  OF  MANES,  GO  TO 
INDIA? 

Certain  writers  have  suggested,  while  others  have  alleged 
that  Thomas,  a disciple  of  Manes  who  sent  him,  it  is 
said,  to  India,  has  been  mistaken  for  St.  Thomas  the 
Apostle.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  that 
there  are  no  grounds  for  the  supposition  that  the  said 
Thomas  ever  went  to  India,  and  consequently  less  for 
the  allegation. 

• / St.  Epiphanius,  the  bishop  of  Constantia,  in  Cyprus, 
a.d.  315-402,  has  fortunately  left  us  a very  full  and  com- 
plete account  of  the  tenets  of  Manes,  an  arch-propagator 
of  falsehood.  These  tenets  wrought  for  a long  time  much 
mischief  and  loss  to  the  Church,  and  were  the  cause  of 
large  numbers  of  her  members  falling  away  at  different 
periods,  seduced  by  the  attraction  of  a double  principle 
of  good  and  evil,  coeval  and  eternal — a doctrine  which 
seems  to  have  always  had  a special  fascination  for  weak 
humanity,  since  it  is  found  to  be  a principle  permeating 
nearly  all  primitive  religions. 

The  authority  of  St.  Epiphanius  does  not  rank  high 
with  some;  they  consider  he  was  not  sufficiently  cautious 
in  accepting  and  testing  the  sources  of  his  information. 
In  the  case  of  Manes  and  his  disciples,  however, 
Epiphanius  specifies  his  authorities,  which  are  almost 
all  obtained  first  hand,  and  he  largely  utilises  the  con- 
tents of  the  contemporary  historical  document  which 
fortunately  has  come  down  to  us  entire  in  a Latin 

203 


204  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 

translation,  while  that  in  Greek,  one  time  much  diffused, 
exists  only  in  fragmentary  quotations. 

In  his  book  ‘Against  Heresies,’1  dealing  with  false 
teachings,  both  prior  and  subsequent  to  the  birth  of 
Christ  down  to  his  own  times,  the  bishop  of  Constantia 
deals  very  fully  with  the  errors  of  Manes  and  the  doings 
of  his  followers.  The  name  of  this  teacher  of  a new 
religion,  rather  than  the  originator  of  a new  heresy,  was 
Cubricus  ; he  was  the  bondsman  of  a loose  woman  who 
had  inherited  great  riches  and  who  had  made  him  a freed- 
man.  At  her  death  he  inherited  all  she  possessed. 
Cubricus,  by  origin  a Persian,  then  assumed  the  name 
of  Manes,  and  commenced  to  build  up  a system  for  his 
peculiar  philosophical  and  religious  ideas;  he  at  the  same 
time  enrolled  a small  band  of  followers.  While  so 
engaged,  he  heard  of  the  serious  illness  of  the  son  of  the 
King  of  Persia.  Blinded  with  pride  and  ambition,  he 
believed  he  could  discover  some  remedy,  or  a charm 
that  would  enable  him  to  cure  the  young  prince,  from 
the  books  of  one  Scythianus  and  a certain  Terbinthus, 
who  had  studied  the  art  of  Indian  magic,  and  were 
the  former  lovers  of  his  late  mistress.  Manes  had 
come  into  possession  of  these,  together  with  the  riches 
left  by  the  deceased  men.  This,  at  one  stroke,  would 
raise  him  to  prominence  and  place  the  project  he 
contemplated  under  high  patronage.  So  he  went  to 
the  Court  and  offered  his  services  to  restore  the  prince 
to  health.  The  offer  was  accepted,  but  he  failed  in 
his  efforts,  and  the  young  prince  succumbed  under 
his  treatment.  The  king,  attributing  the  death  to 
Manes,  and  enraged  at  the  loss  and  imposture  which 
had  been  practised  upon  him,  cast  Manes  into 
prison. 

1 Epiphanius,  Adversus  Haereses  seu  Panarium , Haeres.  66, 
Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  xlii.  col.  30  seq. 


MANES  AND  INDIA 


205 


Manes  had  previously  heard  of  Christianity  and  of  its 
diffusion  over  the  world,  and  he  bethought  himself  that 
it  would  be  as  well  for  him  to  obtain  a more  accurate 
knowledge  of  this  religion.  With  this  object  he  sent 
some  of  his  disciples  to  Judea  to  obtain  for  him  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  When  the 
disciples  returned  with  the  sacred  Scriptures  they 
found  their  master  deprived  of  liberty  ; they,  however, 
obtained  access  to  him  in  prison  and  delivered  the 
books. 

By  the  aid  of  large  bribes,  we  are  informed,  Manes  was 
able  to  make  his  escape,  and  took  up  his  abode  on  the 
borderland  between  the  Persian  and  Roman  territories. 
While  thus  at  a place  named  Arabion  he  heard  of  Mar- 
cellus,  a Christian  of  high  repute,  wealth,  and  authority, 
living  within  the  Roman  boundaries  of  Mesopotamia. 
He  bethought  himself  that  if  he  succeeded  in  inducing 
a person  of  such  distinction  to  adopt  his  principles,  it 
would  assure  him  a firm  footing  and  the  prestige  neces- 
sary to  propagate  them.  In  doubt  how  to  make  his  first 
advances,  he  hesitated  whether  he  should  meet  Marcellus 
personally,  or  first  open  the  way  by  letter  ; judging 
the  latter  course  the  safer,  he  wrote  to  him.  This  letter 
of  Manes,  setting  forth  his  double  principle  ruling  the 
world,  coupled  with  some  tincture  of  Christianity,  is 
given  by  Epiphanius. 

It  so  happened  that  when  Turbo,  the  messenger  and 
adherent  of  Manes,  brought  the  letter  to  Marcellus, 
Archelaus,  the  bishop  of  Cascara  ( Kaskar ) in  Mesopo- 
tamia, lying  in  the  outskirts  of  Seleucia,  was  paying 
him  a visit.  On  reading  it  Marcellus,  a religious  man, 
was  so  taken  by  surprise  at  the  nature  of  the  contents 
that  he  communicated  them  to  the  bishop.  They 
decided  eventually  that  a reply  should  be  sent.  It  is 
here  reproduced  as  a sample  of  an  Eastern  non- 
committal message. 


206  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


‘ Marcellus,  the  nobleman,  to  Manes,  known  to  him 
by  letter,  greetings. 

‘ I read  the  letter  you  wrote  and  have  entertained 
Turbo  with  my  customary  hospitality.  But  the  meaning 
of  the  letter  I cannot  understand,  unless,  perhaps,  you 
come  personally  and  explain  by  word  of  mouth  every- 
thing, as  by  your  letter  you  promise.  Farewell.’ 

The  reply  was  sent  expeditiously  by  one  of  Marcellus' 
servants,  Turbo  being  unwilling  to  undertake  the  return 
journey.  While  awaiting  Manes’  appearance,  the  bishop 
and  Marcellus  closely  examined  Turbo,  who  willingly 
unfolded  to  them  all  that  he  knew  of  his  master’s 
teaching,  and  in  the  meanwhile  removed  to  the  bishop’s 
residence.  Archelaus  was  thus  able  to  draw  up  a state- 
ment of  the  tenets  of  the  new  false  religion,  which  enabled 
him  to  nip  in  the  very  bud  Manes’  attempt  to  introduce 
it  among  the  faithful.  The  bishop’s  statement  of  Manes’ 
false  principle  ; his  refutation  of  it  at  a public  dis- 
cussion held  with  him  at  the  residence  of  Marcellus  ; his 
letter  to  the  priest  of  a village  of  his  diocese  where  Manes 
after  the  previous  disputation  attempted  to  propagate  his 
errors  (this  letter  was  written  in  reply  to  one  from  the 
priest  himself  asking  the  bishop  to  solve  some  difficulties 
proposed  by  Manes,  or  to  come  personally  and  refute 
them);  an  account  of  a second  disputation  between  Manes 
and  the  bishop  at  the  village  in  question  ; an  address  by 
the  bishop  to  the  people  on  the  subject  of  Manes  ; and 
finally,  particulars  of  his  death — all  these  have  been  fortu- 
nately preserved  for  us  in  the  Latin  translation  mentioned 
above.1  We  have  thus  first-hand  knowledge  of  the 
errors  of  this  man  and  of  some  of  his  disciples. 

After  this  double  defeat  at  the  bishop’s  hands,  the 


1 Acta  disputationis  Archelai  episcopi  Mesopotamiae  et  Manetis 
heresiarchae,  published  by  Laurentius  Alexander  Zacagnus  in  his 


MANES  AND  INDIA 


207 


King  of  Persia,  hearing  of  Manes’  whereabouts,  had  him 
captured  in  the  village  where  the  second  dispute  took 
place.  He  was  ordered  to  be  executed,  and  his  skin 
stuffed  with  straw  was  hung  up  outside  the  city  gates,  as 
Socrates,  the  Church  historian,  who  wrote  about  450, 
mentions.1  The  tragic  death  of  the  author  did  not, 
however,  kill  his  errors. 

St.  Epiphanius  concluding  the  narrative  ( Oper . c., 

Collectanea  Monumentorum  veterum  graece  et  latine  quae  hactenus 
in  Vaticana  Bibliotheca  delituerunt,  Romae,  1698,  pp.  1-102.  This 
old  Latin  translation  is  now  the  only  form  in  which  the  complete 
work  exists,  with  the  exception  of  Greek  fragments  preserved  in 
Epiphanius’  text,  Haeres.  66;  and  in  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
Catechesi  Sexta.  The  Acta  were  also  published  by  Gallandus, 
Bibl.  Patrum , tom.  iii.  pp.  569-610 ; by  Mansi,  Concilia,  tom.  i. 
p.  1129  seq.  ; by  Routh,  Reliquae  Sacrae,  2nd  ed.,  Oxford,  tom.  v. 
Zacagnus  states  in  his  preface  that  the  work  must  have  been 
originally  written  in  Syriac,  and  gives  internal  reasons  ; he  also 
adduces  the  authority  of  Jerome,  who  says  ( De  viris  illustr .,  cap. 
lxxii.)  : Archelaus  episcopus  Mesopotamiae  librum  disputationis 
suae,  quam  habuit  adversus  Manichaeum  exeuntem  de  Perside, 
Syro  sermone  composuit,  qui  translatus  in  Graecum  habetur  a multis. 
Claruit  sub  imperatore  Probro  qui  Aureliano  et  Tacito  successerat 
(a.d.  276-282). 

An  important  doctrinal  treatise  against  Manes’  error  has  survived 
in  a Greek  translation  written  by  Titus,  bishop  of  Bostra,  c.  360, 
published  in  the  Thesaurus  7>ionumetitor.  eccl.  et  historicor.  sive 
Henrici  Canisii  lectiones  antiquae,  edit  Jacobus  Basnage,  Amsterdam, 
1725,  vol.  i.  pp.  56-62.  St.  Jerome  {De  viris,  cap.  ciii.)  has  the 
following  : Titus  Bostrensis  episcopus  sub  Juliano  et  Joviano  prin- 
cipibus  fortes  adversus  Manichaeum  scripsit  libros  et  nonnulla 
volumina  alia.  Moritur  autem  sub  Valente,  (between  364-378). 
Bostra,  the  metropolitan  see  of  Arabia,  to  the  Jews  Bosra,  was  a 
former  city  of  the  Moabites  (Lequien,  Orietis  Christiana , tom.  ii. 
col.  853). 

1 Socrates,  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  i.  cap.  xxii.,  ed.  Henrici  Valesii  ; Rex 
Persarum  comperto  quod  Manichaeus  in  illis  partibus  moraretur,  inde 
abrepto  cutem  detrahi  jussit  eamque  paleis  oppletam  ante  civitatis 
portas  appendit.  Atque  haec  nos  nequaquam  commentati  sumus,  sed 
ex  disputatione  quadam  Archelai  Cascharorum  urbis  in  Mesopotamia 
episcopi,  a nobis  lecta  excerpsimus.  Hie  enim  Archelaus  ait  se  cum 
Manichaeo  ipso  coram  disputasse,  et  ea  quae  superius  a nobis  relata 
sunt  de  illius  vita  commemorat. 


208  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


I col.  47)  says  : ‘ This  man  so  died  and  left  the  disciples 
I have  mentioned,  Adda,  Thomas,  and  Hermeas, 
whom  before  his  death  he  had  sent  to  different 
places.  Hermeas,  with  whom  many  are  acquainted, 
went  to  Egypt ; nor  indeed  is  this  heresy  so  old  as 
to  prevent  those  who  had  spoken  to  Hermeas,  the 
disciple  of  Manes,  from  narrating  to  us  what  con- 
cerned him.  Adda  went  to  the  further  region  [which 
here  implies  the  countries  east  of  the  Euphrates], 
Thomas  to  Judea,  and  from  these  the  sect  has  acquired 
vigour  and  growth  down  to  our  days.’  In  the  Latin 
version  of  the  Acta  disputationis  Archelai  episcopi,  at  the 
close  of  the  eleventh  chapter  (division  by  the  editor 
Zacagnus)  we  have  the  following : Haec  est  omnis 
doctrina  quam  tradidit  tribus  discipulis  suis  et  jussit 
eos  in  tres  mundi  plagas  proficisci.  Adda  partes  sor- 
titus  est  Orietis  ; Thomas  vero  Syrorum  terras  suscepit  ; 
Hermas  vero  ad  Aegyptum  projectus  est,  et  usque  in 
hodiernum  ibi  degut,  dogmatis  hujus  gratia  praedicandi. 
‘This  forms  the  entire  body  of  his  teaching  which  he 
(Manes)  handed  down  to  his  three  disciples,  ordering 
them  to  proceed  to  three  different  countries  of  the  world. 
Of  whom  Adda  was  destined  to  the  East,  Thomas  went  to 
the  land  of  Syria,  and  Hermas  to  Egypt,  and  up  to  this 
day  they  dwell  there  to  propagate  these  doctrines.'  In 
the  Acta , at  a later  stage,  Archelaus  again  mentions  these 
three  disciples  of  Manes  (chapter  liii.)  : Tunc  visum  est  ei 
mittere  discipulos  suos  cum  his  quae  conscripserat  in 
libellis  ad  superioris  illius  Provinciae  loca,  et  per  diver- 
sas  civitates  et  vicos  ut  haberet  aliquos  se  sequentes  et 
Thomas  quidem  partis  Aegypti  voluit  occupare,  Addas 
vero  Scythiae,  solus  autem  Hermas  residere  cum  eo 
elegit.  In  this  second  passage  missions  are  assigned  to 
two  only,  Thomas,  who  is  sent  to  Egypt,  and  Addas,  to 
Scythia.  Epiphanius  had  the  document  before  him 
from  which  he  quoted,  and  of  which  St.  Jerome  ( De 


MANES  AND  INDIA 


209 


viris  illustr.,  cap.  Ixxii.)  says  : ‘Written  originally  in  the 
Syriac  they  are  in  the  hands  of  many  in  a Greek  trans- 
lation.’ But  Epiphanius  had  also  almost  contemporary 
witness,  as  we  have  seen,  of  the  preaching  of  these  dis- 
ciples, and  has  told  us  that  Thomas's  mission  was  to  Judea 
and  not  to  Egypt,  while  of  the  mission  to  Egypt  he  had 
good  oral  evidence  that  Hermeas  was  sent  there  ; this 
latter  statement,  as  well  as  the  general  agreement  between 
the  first  statement  in  the  Acta  and  that  given  by  Epi- 
phanius show  that  there  is  some  vagueness  in  Archelaus’ 
later  passage.  It  remains,  however,  clear  that  there  is 
no  mention  of  India,  and  that  Thomas  was  never  sent  to 
that  country. 

The  learned  Petavius  adds  that  ‘ he  (Archelaus)  was 
the  first  to  oppose  this  monstrous  heresy,  and  is  there- 
fore worthy  of  special  praise,  and  he  wrote  an  account 
of  the  disputation  he  had  with  the  impostor  and  dis- 
closed all  the  secrets  of  this  nefarious  superstition. 
From  this  narrative  of  Archelaus  all  others  who  have 
given  the  history  or  handed  down  the  tenets  held  by  this 
heretic  have  drawn  their  materials.’ 1 

We  said  above  that  certain  writers — who  have  not 
looked  into  the  evidence  of  the  case — have  alleged  that 
one  of  the  disciples  of  Manes  went  to  India,  and  that 
this  gave  rise  to  the  supposition  that  the  Apostle  Thomas 
had  not  preached  the  faith  there.  On  what  foundation 
does  this  allegation  rest  ? There  is  a passage  in  Theo- 
doret 2 (died  457-458)  : Habuit  autem  hie  Manes  ab 
initio  discipulos  tres  Aldam,  Thomam,  et  Hermam.  Et 
Aldam  quidem  ad  praedicandum  misit  in  Syriam,  ad 
Indos  vero  Thomam.  As  the  Acta  disputationis  and 
Epiphanius,  both  older  authorities  than  Theodoret,  agree 

1 Epiphan.  H acres.  66,  ut  supr.,  § xxv.,  col.  71-72,  in  a note  to 
his  Latin  translation  of  the  above  work. 

2 Theodoretus  episcopus  Cyrensis,  Compendiutn  Haereticar. 
Fabnlar.,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  Ixxxiii.,  Theodor.,  oper.  iv.  col.  379. 

O 


2io  INDIA  AND  THE  APOSTLE  THOMAS 


perfectly  on  the  missions  assigned  to  the  three  disciples 
of  Manes,  Theodoret’s  statement  must  give  way  to  the 
former.1  There  remains  one  remark  to  offer.  Theo- 
doret  is  at  fault  in  the  name  of  the  disciple  Adda,  whom 
he  calls  AAAA  in  place  of  AAAA.  Bearing  in  mind  that 
the  MSS  existing  in  the  fifth  century  were  mostly  written 
in  uncial  letters,  the  change  is  easily  explained — the 
bottom  stroke  of  the  A was  overlooked.  Theodoret  or 
his  amanuensis  must  have  had  a faulty  manuscript  before 
them,  or  mis-read  the  same.  This  would  also  explain 
how  Thomas  comes  to  be  sent  to  India.  Epiphanius,  in 
the  quotation  given  above,  has  in  the  Greek  text  6co/j.a<{ 
67tl  rr)v  lovhalov , it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  last  word  might 
be  hastily  read  or  transcribed  IvSiav.  This  appears  to  be  a 
reasonable  explanation  of  the  inaccuracy  of  Theodoret's 
statement  (see  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.,  tom.  iv.  p.  28). 2 

1 Even  such  a scholar  as  Tillemont,  misled  by  Theodoret’s 
passage,  writes  in  his  Memoires  Hist.  Eccl.  (Venice,  1732,  tom.  i., 
note  4,  p.  613)  : ‘There  is  reason  to  fear  that  an  apostle  of  Manes 
(Thomas)  was  mistaken  for  Thomas  the  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.’  He 
failed  apparently  to  consult  St.  Epiphanius,  and  was  unaware  of  the 
existence,  or  of  the  publication  by  Zacagnus,  of  the  Acta  disputationis. 
Backed  by  the  opinion  of  Tillemont,  Theodoret’s  misreading  was 
made  much  of  by  certain  Protestant  writers  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  in  their  attacks  on  the  Jesuits.  Having  Theo- 
doret’s authority  for  saying  that  Thomas  the  disciple  of  Manes  went 
to  India,  they  affirmed  this  had  given  rise  to  the  notion  that  the  Apostle 
of  the  same  name  had  preached  the  faith  there.  The  suggestion 
occurs  passim  in  a certain  class  of  writings,  and  thence  it  has  crept 
into  works  of  a more  serious  stamp. 

2 Bardenhewer,  in  his  Les  Fires  de  F Eglise  (French  translation, 
Paris,  1899,  vol.ii.pp.  59-60),  on  a statement  of  Vhotms  (Bibliotheca,  cod. 
85,  cols.  287-288,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L .,  tom.  ciii.)  would  make  the  Acta  dis- 
putationis  Archelai  an  ingenious  piece  of  forgery  of  a later  date.  Let  us 
see  what  Photius  says.  While  giving  a summary  of  the  writings  of  Hera- 
clian,  bishop  of  Chalcedon  (between  491-518)  against  Manichaeans, 
he  says  : Recensit  item  eos  qui  ante  se  in  Manichaeorum  impietatem 
calamum  strinxerunt.  Hegemonium,  nimirum,  qui  disputationem  Arch- 
elai adversus  ipsum  (Manetem)  perscripsit  {avaypafyavTa — recorded). 
From  the  evidence  of  earlier  writers  produced,  the  passage  cannot  be 
reasonably  taken  in  the  sense  assigned  by  the  learned  professor.  The 


MANES  AND  INDIA 


2 1 1 


Latin  copy  and  the  Greek  extracts  attest  the  Acta  to  be  of  Aramaic 
origin,  apart  from  the  authority  of  St.  Jerome — no  mean  authority  on 
a question  of  Eastern  literature.  Nor  should  the  fact  be  overlooked 
that  Epiphanius,  a native  of  Judea  though  he  wrote  in  Greek,  knew 
besides,  according  to  Jerome  ( Adv . RuJ '.,  ii.  n.  22;  Migne,  P.  L., 
xxiii.  col.  446),  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Coptic,  and  had  also  some  know- 
ledge of  Latin,  quoted  long  passages  from  these  Acts  ; he  wrote 
his  Adversus  Haeres.  between  374-377.  Surely  all  these  autho- 
rities cannot  be  set  aside.  The  only  plausible  meaning  that  can  be 
assigned  to  the  passage  of  Photius  is  that  Hegemonius  may  have  been 
the  author  of  the  Greek  translation.  Finally,  Harnack,  writing  on 
these  Acta  and  Tatian’s  Diatessaron , considers  himself  justified  in 
concluding  that  the  Acta,  of  which  he  made  a special  study,  repro- 
duced quotations  of  the  Gospels  from  the  Diatessaron.  This  offers 
additional  internal  evidence  that  the  writing  originated  in  Meso- 
potamia and  was  the  work  of  a Syrian,  not  a Greek,  author,  and  was 
written  in  the  Aramaic  tongue. 

Since  writing  the  above  we  have  consulted  Dom  Remy  Ceillier,  who 
discusses  (Z.’ Histoire  generate  des  auteurs  sacres  et  eccle'siastiques,  new 
ed.,  Paris,  1868,  vol.  ii.  p.  453)  the  passage  quoted  from  Photius.  The 
opinion  he  arrives  at  is  the  following  : On  peut  concilier  ces  deux  ver- 
sions en  supposant  que  cet  Hegemone  traduisit  en  grec  les  Acta  de 
la  dispute  d’Archelaus,  ou  qu’il  les  publia  de  nouveau  en  y ajoutant 
plusieurs  circonstances  dont  Archelaus  n’avait  pas  fait  mention  ; car 
il  est  certain  que  ces  Actes  sont  de  deux  auteurs — more  probably  were 
slightly  supplemented,  if  at  all  ; this  may  also  account  for  the  dis- 
crepancies of  the  later  citation  with  the  earlier  discussed  above. 


APPENDIX 


A CRITICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ACTS  OF 
THOMAS  THE  APOSTLE 

SECTION  I 

Preamble 

When  dealing  with  the  question  raised  by  these  Acts,  of  the 
historical  existence  of  the  King  of  the  Indians  named  Gondo- 
phares,  we  were  able  to  show  (see  Chapter  I.)  that  the  statement 
is  amply  supported  by  historical  evidence.  This  ought  to  offer 
encouragement  to  proceed  a step  further  and  to  inquire  whether 
the  Acts  contain  other  points  of  reliable  history. 

i.  Criteria 

Before  doing  so,  we  deem  it  advisable  to  ask  the  reader  to 
follow  us  through  a few  preliminary  remarks,  which  a closer 
study  of  the  Acts  has  shown  should  be  kept  in  mind  while 
endeavouring  to  discriminate  between  what  may  be  termed  the 
kernel,  or  main  facts  of  the  narrative,  contained  in  the  present 
form  of  the  Acts,  and  the  ample  enlargements  the  text  has 
undergone.  For  this  purpose  we  should  first  of  all  place  our- 
selves in  the  circumstances  of  the  age  when  they  were  most 
likely  written  ; examine  the  channels  then  available  for  the  trans- 
mission of  news  between  distant  countries ; take  into  considera- 
tion whether  the  story  was  written  on  the  spot  where  the  events 
took  place,  or  if  the  narrative  came  to  be  committed  to  writing 
in  a far  distant  country  from  that  in  which  the  scenes  occurred. 

Should  the  latter  be  the  case,  and  that  the  facts  had  to  be  ob- 
tained at  second-hand,  passing  from  mouth  to  mouth  and  travelling 
over  long  distances  before  reaching  the  place  where  they  took 

213 


214 


APPENDIX 


concrete  form  in  writing,  it  is  clear  that  a great  many  precautions 
are  necessary  to  ensure  a reliable  rendering  of  the  events.  Few 
are  the  instances  in  the  early  ages  when  travellers  have  given  us 
their  experiences  at  first  hand.  Most  of  the  narratives  which 
have  survived  and  have  reached  us  show  that  they  are  based  on 
unwritten  reports.  Having  then,  often,  nothing  better  than 
hearsay  reports  to  go  upon,  the  writer,  after  carefully  examin- 
ing the  facts  put  before  him,  would  have  to  choose  what  he  can 
accept,  and  exclude  what  he  feels  bound  to  reject.  Similarly 
he  will  have  to  depend  on  his  own  judgment  in  setting  and 
co-ordinating  them  as  to  time  and  place. 

He  has  yet  a further  difficulty  to  surmount;  he  has  to  clothe 
them  in  his  own  language.  Any  one  who  has  made  the  experi- 
ment of  putting  hearsay  narratives  on  record,  is  conscious  of  the 
danger  he  lies  under  of  unwittingly  stating  what  is  inaccurate,  or 
of  giving  a wrong  meaning  or  colour  to  what  he  reports.  The 
difficulty  increases  very  considerably  when  he  happens  to  be 
unacquainted  with  the  country  he  deals  with  and  its  customs  and 
usages.  In  such  a case,  however  painstaking,  he  is  morally 
certain  to  be  led  into  inaccurate  statements.  Unknown  per- 
haps to  himself,  he  will  alter  the  sequence  of  events  when  not 
interdependent,  or  he  will  misplace  them  geographically  or 
chronologically — showing  them  as  having  occurred  in  one  part 
of  the  country  when  they  may  have  taken  place  in  quite  another, 
or  at  a different  period. 

Dealing  with  oral  reports  coming  from  afar  and  not  received 
at  first  hand,  one  has  to  bear  in  mind  that  all  this  dislocation  and 
distortion  of  the  story  may  already  have  happened  before  the 
narrative  reaches  him,  owing  to  its  having  passed  through  different 
oral  channels. 


2.  Are  the  Acts  a Romance? 

It  may  be  asked,  What  object  is  served  by  placing  these 
different  criteria  before  the  reader? 

If  the  Acts  of  Thomas  are  to  be  taken  as  pure  romance,  like 
a large  portion  of  the  present-day  literature,  then,  indeed,  these 
preliminary  remarks  would  be  out  of  place ; for  we  would  not  be 
dealing  with  facts  having  any  historical  basis,  but  with  a work  of 
fiction.  But  if  they  are  taken  to  contain  a record  of  historical, 
or  partly  historical,  events  of  an  early  age,  then  the  reader  will 


APPENDIX 


215 


find,  from  what  will  come  before  him,  that  the  above  criteria  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  guide  him  in  forming  a sound  opinion 
on  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  story  as  a whole,  or  of  its  com- 
ponent parts,  where  analysis  enables  us  to  separate  its  different 
elements. 

3.  Two  Different  Ancient  Views  of  the  Same 

What  is  the  history  of  these  Acts  ? 

They  are,  by  Catholic  writers  of  great  authority,  such  as  SS. 
Augustine  and  Epiphanius  and  some  others,  said  to  have  been  used 
by  the  Manichaeans  and  by  several  branches  of  the  early  Gnostic 
sects,  to  have  been  read  in  their  assemblies,  and  to  have  practi- 
cally replaced  the  Holy  Scriptures  among  them.  This  discloses 
the  fact  that  they  were  made  use  of  by  these  sects  for  a doctrinal 
purpose,  in  order  to  set  up  some  theory  or  tenet  of  their  own  which 
they  sought  to  inculcate  on  their  followers  and  propagate  among 
others.  A novel  written  expressly  for  the  purpose  would  answer 
as  well ; it  would  then  hold,  as  incrusted  fossils,  the  doctrinal 
features  embedded  in  the  narrative,  but  it  would  be  the  pure 
outcome  of  imagination.  Of  the  present  Acts  of  Thomas  it 
can  be  said  that,  in  a certain  sense,  they  have  been  dramatised 
and  utilised  for  a similar  purpose,  and  how  far  this  is  true  we 
shall  have  an  opportunity  to  judge  in  the  sequel. 

We  have  also  to  consider  that  there  are  other  Catholic 
writers,  as  St.  Ephraem,  and  later  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  not  to 
mention  others  of  lesser  weight,  who  recognise  as  historical, 
incidents  mentioned  in  the  Acts ; and  the  latter  also  informs  us  of 
the  existence  of  a narrative  which  he  describes  as  historia  passionis 
eius  \Thomae\ — according  to  which  the  Apostle  Thomas  suffered 
martyrdom  in  India.  This  can  be  no  other  than  the  Passio  B. 
Thotnae , which  is  an  abbreviated  form  of  the  story,  of  which  a 
fuller  account  exists  also  in  Latin,  under  the  name  De  Miraculis 
B.  Thomae. 

We  are  thus  face  to  face  with  two  facts  : one,  that  certain 
IIpoE^ets  or  IleptdSot  or  M aprvpiov — Acta  and  Passio  of  the 
Apostle  were  monopolised  by  certain  heretics  for  the  purpose  of 
propagating  their  tenets ; the  other  that  a certain  history  of 
his  martyrdom  in  India  does  exist,  and  is  referred  to  as  containing 
a historical  narrative  concerning  the  Apostle. 


2l6 


APPENDIX 


4.  Gnostics  and  the  Acts 

To  clear  up  the  point  whether  the  Gnostic  sects  set  up  a 
composition  of  their  own — in  other  words,  a romance  to  dissemi- 
nate their  errors  under  the  shadow  of  the  Apostle’s  great  name — 
it  will  be  as  well  to  ascertain  first  if  there  be  any  other  pre- 
existing story  or  acts  of  a martyr  used  by  them  at  an  early  age 
for  any  similar  purpose.  If  this  be  found  to  be  the  case,  it  will  al- 
most be  safe  to  conclude,  even  on  this  ground  alone,  that  the  same 
had  occurred  in  the  case  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas.  This  is  pre- 
cisely what  we  find  has  happened.  The  acts  of  a virgin  martyr 
of  the  apostolic  age  have  been  tampered  with  and  adapted  for 
doctrinal  purposes  by  these  heretics.  They  are  the  Acts  of  St. 
Thecla,  a convert  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and  of  about  the  middle 
of  the  first  century.  Treatment  of  this  side  issue  follows  in 
Nos.  13-15. 


5.  Reasons  in  Support 

A pre-existing  book  held  in  esteem  and  veneration  would 
suit  the  purpose  of  these  sects  much  better  than  any  new  pro- 
duction ; hence  the  reason  for  utilising  the  Acts  of  a martyr,  and 
more  so  those  of  an  Apostle,  is  obvious.  There  is  the  prestige 
of  the  name  which  would  at  once  attract  readers  while  concealing 
the  design.  In  the  primitive  ages  of  the  Church  the  books  which 
were  read  by  Christians  were  the  Scriptures  and  the  Acts  of 
Martyrs,  for  in  those  days  of  persecution  the  fervour  of  their 
faith  urged  them  to  prepare  themselves  to  undergo,  when 
called  upon,  every  sort  of  torture  to  secure  the  martyr’s  crown, 
and  for  this  purpose  the  reading  of  the  Passiones  Marty  rum  was 
the  most  effective  help.  Such  acts,  then,  would  be  the  most 
convenient  channel  heretics  could  employ  for  the  purpose  of 
spreading  their  tenets.  A third  reason  which  may  be  suggested 
is  that  it  would  not  be  a book  that  could  be  cast  back  at  them  as 
their  own  composition ; and  if  the  false  principle  was  cautiously 
allowed  to  drip  through  the  web  of  the  narrative,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  it  would  easily  pass  undetected,  and 
hence  be  more  easily  absorbed  and  assimilated. 


APPENDIX 


217 


6.  Criteria  Applicable  to  the  Acts 

Under  the  circumstances  described  above,  in  which  the  early 
Acts  were  compiled,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel,  the  reader  will 
perceive  the  utility  of  keeping  in  mind  what  we  have  so  far  dis- 
cussed, and  of  applying  these  criteria  to  the  present  Acts  of 
Thomas.  The  criteria  are  fully  applicable  to  a composition  like 
this,  which,  as  will  be  seen,  originated  in  Mesopotamia  ; it  re- 
corded events  that  must  have  taken  place  in  India,  which  was 
connected  to  the  former  by  commerce,  was  difficult  of  access, 
while  the  channel  of  communication  would  have  been  oral — 
through  travellers. 


SECTION  II 

Preliminary  Questions 
7.  Abdias,  his  Compilation 

The  first  edition  of  a compilation  which  contained  the 
‘ Passiones  ’ and  ‘ Miracula  ’ of  the  Apostles  was  published 
by  Frederick  Nausea,  under  the  title  ‘Anonymi  Philalethi 
Eusebiani  in  vitas  miracula  passionesque  apostolorum  Rap- 
sodiae,  Coloniae,  1531.’  Wolfangus  Lazius  published  almost 
the  same  collection,  but  it  is  not  known  from  what  text,  with 
the  title  ‘Abdiae  Babyloniae  episcopi  et  apostolorum  discipuli 
de  historia  certaminis  apostolici  libri  x,  Julio  Africano,  cujus 
subinde  meminit  Hieronymus,  interprete,  Basiliae  1552’;  the 
preface  bears  the  date  of  1551.  That  by  Nausea  now  represents 
a codex  that  no  longer  exists,  probably  it  was  used  up  in  printing 
that  edition.  The  one  by  Lazius,  though  inaccurately  entered  in 
the  new  Catalogue  of  the  Bibliotheque  now  being  printed,  may  be 
detected  under  the  name  ‘ Abdias  ’ by  the  date  of  the  year  1552  : 
it  was  printed  repeatedly,  both  at  Cologne  and  at  Paris,  until  the 
edition  ‘Codex  Apocryphus  Novi  Testamenti,  Hamburgi,  1703,’ 
by  J.  A.  Fabricius,  in  two  volumes,  superseded  it.  Fabricius, 
in  1719,  issued  a second  enlarged  edition  in  three  volumes,  also 
at  Hamburg. 

Max  Bonnet,  who  made  a special  study  of  this  class  of  writings 
bearing  chiefly  on  the  Apostles,  and  issued,  as  we  shall  have 


2l8 


APPENDIX 


occasion  to  note,  critical  editions  of  some,  holds  that  Nausea’s 
edition  gives  a faithful  rendering  of  the  original  text,  while 
Lazius  has  given  himself  some  freedom  in  his  editing  of  the 
same.  See  his  remarks  in  preface  to  St.  Gregory  of  Tours 
‘ Liber  de  Miraculis  Beati  Andreae  Apostoli  ’ ( Opera  Gregorii 
Tvronensis,  tom.  i.  pt.  ii.  p.  824,  forming  vol.  i.,  of  Scriptores 
Rerum  Merovingicarum,  Hannoveriae,  1885,  in  4to). 

We  reproduce  the  heading  of  the  first  book  of  Lazius,  the 
rest  repeat  the  same  at  each  life  : 1 Historiae  apostolorum  auctore 
Abdia  Babiloniae  episcopo  et  ipsorum  apostolorum  discipulo, 
quam  ex  Hebraica  lingua  in  Latinam  Africanus  vertit.’  It 
will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  warn  the  reader  that  the  name 
of  Africanus  has  been  gratuitously  introduced ; but  we  have 
also  the  name  of  Abdias  and  mention  of  the  Hebrew  language. 
A modem  editor  of  some  of  these  apocryphal  (anonymous) 
writings,  published  in  an  important  series,  scoffs  at  the  men- 
tion of  Hebrew  on  the  title-page : he  was  unaware  that  it 
offered  him  an  early  hint  that  some  of  the  texts  it  gives  are 
of  Semitic  origin.  During  the  Middle  Ages  and  later  the 
‘ Chaldee  ’ as  of  old  and  the  Chaldean  as  now,  representing 
the  Assyrian  form  of  the  Aramaean  or  Syriac  language,  was 
commonly  termed  Hebrew,  and  the  writing  was  often  repro- 
duced in  Hebrew  characters,  as  may  to  this  day  be  observed  in 
the  case  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  composed  in  Chaldaic. 

It  has  been  asked,  What  proof  is  there  that  some  of  the  texts 
came  from  a Semitic  source,  or  that  there  ever  was  such  a 
person  as  Abdias  ? To  the  former  of  these  two  questions  in- 
cidental references  as  well  as  direct  proof  will  be  forthcoming,  but 
to  the  second  an  answer  may  here  be  given.  The  Eusebian  text 
of  what  is  termed  by  some  ‘ The  Abgar  Legend  ’ offers  us  a name 
almost  the  same  in  the  Greek  form.  This  Rufinus,  in  his  ancient 
Latin  version  of  that  history,  corroborates.  The  Eusebian  text 
{Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  i.  c.  xiii.  col.  127,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  xx., 
Eusebii,  tom.  ii.)  recites  that,  after  the  cure  of  Abgar  by  the 
messenger  sent  by  Judas  Thomas  the  Apostle,  namely,  Thaddeus 
the  Apostle,  it  continues  : ‘ Nec  vero  ipsum  solummodo  (curavit) 
sed  et  Abdum  quemdam  Abdi  filium,’  &c.  The  Greek  text 
(col.  128)  gives  the  name  A/3Sos.  Dr.  Schwartz’s  critical  ed. 
of  Euseb.  H.  E.,  Leipsic,  1903,  Part  I.,  p.  94,  gives — dAAd 
Kal  A f38ov  tov  tov  A(38ov.  Rufinus  (in  a valuable  edition 
of  his  Latin  translation,  published  per  Beaturn  Rhenanum — 


APPENDIX 


219 


apud  inclytam  Basileam  An.  MDXXIII.  — under  the  title 
Avtores  Historiae  Ecc/esiasticae,  p.  22)  translates:  ‘Non  solum 
autem  ilium  sed  et  Abdon  quemdam  Abdiae  [a/.  Abdei],  filium,’ 
&:c.  Theodore  Mommsen’s  crit.  text  of  RufinUs’  translation, 
published  with  Schwartz’s  text,  ut  supr.,  p.  95,  reproduces  a verbal 
reflection  of  the  Greek  text — ‘sed  et  Abdum  quendam  Abdae 
filium.’  Cureton  ( Ancient  Syriac  Documents , London,  1864),  in 
his  English  rendering  of  an  ancient  Syriac  version  of  a fragment 
of  Eusebius’  history,  translates  the  same  passage  : ‘ not  himself 
only,  but  also  Abdu,  son  of  Abdu,’  &c.  The  Syriac  of  the  Doctrine 
of  A ddai  the  Apostle , edited  with  text,  translation,  and  notes,  by 
George  Phillips,  London,  1876,  gives  the  corresponding  passage 
of  the  same  narrative,  p.  8 : ‘And  also  with  respect  to  Abdu,’  &c. 
We  may  then  infer  that  the  Semitic  form  of  the  name  is  Abdu  ; 
this  Eusebius  rendered  in  Greek  Af38os ; and  Rufinus,  at  the  end 
of  the  fourth  or  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  gives  the  Latin 
form  of  the  same  name  as  Abdos,  Abdias,  and  Abdeus. 

In  Eusebius’  text  ‘Thaddeus  the  Apostle’  is  described  ‘one 
of  the  seventy.’  The  Eusebian  narrative  is  taken,  as  he  expressly 
states,  from  the  Syriac ; it  must  be  from  the  same  Edessan  docu- 
ment from  which  the  Doctrine  of  A ddai  takes  its  narrative,  and 
this  in  Phillips’  translation  of  the  Syriac  text,  p.  5,  reads, 
‘Judas  Thomas  sent  to  Abgar  Addai  the  Apostle,  who  was  one 
of  the  seventy-two  Apostles.’  If  we  turn  to  St.  Jerome,  we 
find  him  stating  most  positively  (P.  L.,  tom.  xxvi.,  Hieron.,  tom. 
vii.,  Commentar.  in  Matth .,  col.  6r)  : ‘Thaddaeum  apostolum 
ecclesiastica  tradit  historia  missum  Edessam  ad  Abgarum  regem 
Osroenae,’  &c.  The  Syriac  text  of  Addai  offers  evidence  to 
show  that  the  text  contained  at  first  the  words  ‘ Addai  the 
Apostle’;  but  it,  to  later  Eastern  ideas,  would  appear  strange 
and  undignified  that  one  Apostle  should  depute  another  to  per- 
form a certain  work  for  him,  so  the  title  ‘Apostle ’is  retained 
and  an  insertion  is  intercalated  to  meet  the  difficulty — ‘who 
is  one  of  the  seventy-two  Apostles ; ’ a form  of  expression  quite 
unusual,  hence  savouring  of  being  an  addition  by  a later  hand. 
Eusebius  curtails  it  to  ‘one  of  the  seventy.’  The  true  reading 
is  confirmed  also  by  the  above-quoted  assertion  of  Jerome,  that 
‘ ecclesiastical  history  hands  down  that  the  Apostle  Thaddeus 
was  sent  to  King  Abgar  of  Edessa,’  where,  after  curing  him,  he 
cured  also  Abdias,  the  son  of  Abdias:  ‘Addai’  is  the  Aramaic 
form  of  the  name  Thaddeus. 


220 


APPENDIX 


So  we  have  not  only  the  name,  but  we  can  see  the  probability 
that  this  Abdias,  cured  by  a miracle,  may  have  attached  himself  to 
the  person  of  the  Apostle  Thaddeus.  This  latter  inference  we  shall 
presently  find  supported  by  one  of  the  texts  of  the  short  histories 
of  the  Apostles  in  the  collection  above  mentioned.  We  take  our 
quotation  from  Nausea’s  edition  ( Passio  sanctorum  Apostolorum 
Simonis  et  Judae , c.  vi.  fol.  Ixxii.):  ‘ ordinaverunt  autem  in  civitate 
ilia  [Babylon]  episcopum  nomine  Abdiam  ’ ; it  then  adds,  ‘ qui  cum 
ipsis  venerat  a Judaea,’  &c,  which  latter  insertion  would  be  by  way 
of  an  inference.  Lazius,  in  his  edition  of  the  text,  does  not  leave 
it  to  be  inferred,  as  in  that  given  by  Nausea,  that  the  name  of 
the  city  was  Babylon,  but  expressly  inserts  the  name.  It  should 
further  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Apostles  James,  son  of  Alpheus 
(Matt.  x.  3),  and  Thaddeus,  named  Jude  by  Luke  (vi.  16),  and 
Simon  the  Canaanean,  were  brothers ; for  the  two  former  we  have 
the  authority  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  and  for  Simon  the  constant 
tradition  of  the  Western  and  Eastern  Churches.  Jude-Thad- 
deus  suffered  martyrdom  in  Persia  with  his  brother  Simon ; the 
joint  feast  is  kept  on  28th  October.  Jude-Thaddeus  could 
therefore  have  appointed  Abdias  bishop  of  Babylon. 

That  no  direct  evidence  has  come  down  to  us  from  other 
sources  that  Abdias  was  the  first  bishop  of  that  city  proves 
nothing.  Even  in  the  case  of  large  and  important  places  within 
the  Roman  empire  we  possess  no  list  of  the  early  bishops,  much 
less  need  we  expect  to  find  those  of  cities  outside  the  empire 
recorded  and  handed  down  in  some  prominent  record.  Yet  we 
have  here  a mention,  the  rejection  of  which  cannot  be  warranted 
on  the  sole  ground  that  it  is  found  in  an  anonymous  writing. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  will  appear  obvious  that  during  the 
Apostolic  age,  when  a sufficient  number  of  conversions  to  the 
faith  demanded  the  nomination  of  a bishop,  the  selection  would 
fall  on  some  well-tried  disciple  who  had  accompanied  an  Apostle 
and  had  been  trained  in  such  a school,  and  not  on  a neophyte, 
however  zealous  and  fervent.  The  1 non-neophytum  ’ principle 
(1  Tim.  iii.  6)  would  naturally  be  enforced. 

No  texts  in  the  Syriac  have  yet  appeared  which  would  cover 
anything  like  the  ground  of  the  Latin  compilation  published 
under  the  name  of  Abdias.  Many  manuscripts  still  remain  to 
be  printed ; as  to  whether  such  writings  in  Syriac  cover  a large 
field  we  have  yet  to  learn,  since  no  collection  of  the  existing 
Syriac  texts  has  yet  appeared.  There  is,  however,  hope  that  in 


APPENDIX 


221 


the  near  future  this  want  will  be  supplied.  The  editors  of  the 
new  series,  Corpus  Scriptorum  Christianorum  Orientalium , J.  B. 
Chabot,  J.  Guidi,  H.  Hyvernat,  and  B.  Carra  de  Vaux,  propose 
to  publish  Eastern  works  written  by  Christians  in  the  following 
languages : Syriac,  Ethiopic,  Coptic,  Arabic,  and,  perhaps  later, 
Armenian  may  also  be  included.  The  series  will  embrace  four 
sub-heads  for  each  language.  Under  the  sub-head  Apocrypha 
Sacra  for  Syriac,  four  volumes  are  reserved  for  writings  bearing 
on  the  New  Testament,  treating  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the 
Apostles,  and  the  Cross.  These  may  give  us  the  supplementary 
texts.  It  will  hence  be  wise  to  keep  an  open  mind  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  more  so  as  recent  researches  have  singularly  re-habili- 
tated  many  a piece  of  early  ecclesiastical  literature  which  had 
been  placed  under  ban  by  a long  succession  of  savants. 

8.  Acts  of  Thomas,  Original  Language 

Selecting  the  Acts  of  Thomas  for  special  treatment— which 
are  also  incorporated  in  the  Abdias  Latin  collection — it  will  be 
necessary  to  ascertain  in  what  language  they  were  originally 
written.  The  Semitic  text  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas  has  been 
fortunately  submitted  to  scrutiny  and  compared  with  its  Greek 
representative  to  ascertain  the  primitive  language  of  the  com- 
position. The  work  has  been  done  by  Professor  F.  C.  Burkitt, 
who  has  found  the  Syriac  to  be  beyond  doubt  the  original  text. 
We  therefore  recommend  to  the  reader  in  search  of  such  techni- 
cal proof  the  Professor’s  Early  Christianity  outside  the  Roman 
Empire,  Cambridge,  1899,  pp.  63-79;  Journal  of  Theological 
Studies,  for  1900,  pp.  280-290;  ibid.,  for  1902,  p.  95. 

The  different  copies  of  the  Acts  now  extant  give  us  no  fair 
idea  of  what  the  original  short  form  of  the  narrative  must  have 
been.  The  large  amount  of  unnecessary  incidents,  and  yet  more 
the  redundant  discourses  put  into  the  mouths  of  persons  brought 
on  the  scene,  of  which  the  Syriac  offers  the  most  exaggerated  form, 
can  by  no  means  have  formed  part  of  the  original  composition. 

9.  The  Syriac  Text  of  the  Acts 

A complete  copy  of  the  Syriac  text  of  these  Acts  of  Thomas 
exists  in  the  British  Museum  in  Add.  MS  14,645,  dated  936, 
edited  by  Dr.  Wright,  Apocryphal  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  London, 


222 


APPENDIX 


1871,  in  two  volumes,  one  of  text  and  the  other  giving  the  English 
translation  by  the  editor.  Of  those  published  in  the  former,  the 
Acts  of  John  the  Evangelist,  and  on  his  Decease ; on  Matthew  and 
Andrew,  as  also  that  of  Thomas,  are  in  Syriac.  There  are  besides 
three  other  copies  of  our  text  which  have  come  from  the  East : one 
was  procured  by  Sachau  and  is  in  Berlin — a modern  transcript ; a 
second  copy,  probably  taken  from  the  same  original  also,  is  at 
Cambridge ; the  third,  also  a modern  transcript  as  we  believe, 
was  procured  for  the  Borgian  Museum,  Rome,  by  the  late  Syrian 
Archbishop  of  Damascus,  David,  together  with  a large  number 
of  other  Syriac  MSS,  some  of  which  were  copies.  All  these  latter 
have  now  passed  to  the  Vatican  Library  with  the  other  MSS  which 
had  been  collected  either  by  the  founder,  Cardinal  Borgia,  or  by 
the  late  Cardinal  Barnabo.  Besides  Wright’s  edition  of  the  text, 
the  Rev.  Paul  Bedjan  has  also  given  a separate  edition  in  vol. 
iii.  of  his  Acta  Martyrum  et  Sanctorum , Leipsic-Paris,  1892, 
incorporating  readings  from  the  Borgian  MS.  This  edition 
contains  several  additions  to  Wright’s  text  taken  from  the 
Berlin  MS  (Duval,  Litt.  Syriac , 2nd  edition,  1900,  p.  98,  note). 

Fragments  of  these  Acts,  from  a palimpsest  Sinaitic  codex, 
have  been  read  and  published,  with  an  English  translation  by 
Mr.  Burkitt,  in  Appendix  vii.  to  Studia  Sinaitica,  No.  ix.,  text  and 
translation,  London,  1900,  Clay  & Sons,  edited  by  Agnes  Smith 
Lewis;  also  Horae  Semiticae,  Nos.  iii.  and  iv.,  text  and  translation, 
Cambridge  University  Press,  edited  by  the  same  lady.  The  text 
yielded  by  the  palimpsest,  of  which  only  eight  pages  were  found 
decipherable,  would  cover  the  space  of  about  five  pages  of 
Wright’s  edition.  Burkitt  holds  these  fragments  to  be  400 
years  older  than  any  known  text;  this  would  give  us  a.d.  936- 
400  = a.d.  536,  or  the  second  quarter  of  the  sixth  century.  The 
reader  should,  however,  be  warned  that  the  learned  Professor 
worked  on  photos  taken  by  Mrs.  Lewis,  and  had  not  the 
opportunity  of  handling  the  original  sheets. 

A small  poem  in  Syriac  of  the  Acts  of  Judas  Thomas  by  a 
Nestorian  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Giwargis  of  Alkosh,  will  be 
found  in  P.  Cardahi’s  Liber  Thesauri  de  arte  poetica  Syrorutn , 
p.  130. 

10.  The  Greek  Version 

The  best  edition  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  versions  has  been 
given  by  Professor  Max  Bonnet,  of  Montpellier,  Acta  Thomae : 


APPENDIX 


223 


Graece  partim  cum  novis  codicibus  contulit,  partim  primus  edidit — 
Latine  recensuit , Lipsiae,  1883.1  The  Greek  text  is  found  entire 
in  only  one  codex,  Paris-Graec.  1510  (olim.  2452);  this  Bonnet 
discovered  and  has  reproduced.  He  considers  the  MS  to  be  of 
the  eleventh  century ; the  catalogue  marks  it  of  the  twelfth. 


11.  The  Latin  Versions 

Of  the  Latin  versions  Bonnet  says  ( praef.  xiii.) : ‘ Acta  Thomae 
latina  habemus  bina,  pleniora  altera  altera  breuiora,  neutra  ex 
alteris  hausta.’  The  third  statement  that  they  are  independent 
of  each  other  is  of  considerable  importance,  as  this  implies  that 
they  descend  from  independent  sources.  The  former  of  these 
versions,  ‘ on  the  authority  of  the  codices,’  is  called  De  Miraculis 
Tho?nae , the  other  Passio  Thomae.  The  difference  of  names  is 
important.  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  a.d.  590,  knew  only  the 
latter — Thomas  Apostolus  secundum  historiam  Passionis  ejus.2 
The  point  is  of  importance  for  more  than  one  reason,  and 
will  turn  up  again  for  consideration.  Bonnet  terms  the  version 
‘Passio’  (p.  xiii.)  ‘ minoris  pretii  librum.’  This  is  true  in 
two  ways,  it  is  not  as  good  a compilation  as  the  other  De 
Miraculis , and  is  written  in  an  inferior  style ; but  he  remarks 
‘ sed  a multis  deinceps  lectum.’  The  ruggedness  of  its  style 
may  also  be  a reason  for  holding  it  as  the  more  ancient  version 
of  the  two,  even  apart  from  the  witness  of  Gregory  of  Tours. 
Bonnet  admits  further  that  there  may  have  been  from  the  be- 
ginning two  Latin  versions  of  the  Acts,  as  there  were  two  of 
Hermas’s  book,  Pastor;  and,  we  may  add,  as  there  were  of 
the  letters  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  as  well  as  of  other  early 
writings. 

Anyhow,  note  should  be  taken  of  the  fact  that  St.  Gregory, 
who  had  made  a special  study  of  early  literature  of  this  class, 
and  to  which  he  himself  was  a large  contributor,  does  not 
mention  the  present  compilation  De  Miraculis. 

Of  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  the  shorter  version,  Passio,  was  the 

1 These  texts  are  now  incorporated  in  Part  II.  of  vol.  ii.  of  the  Leipsic 
edition  of  the  Acta  Apostolorum  Apocrypha,  1903. 

2 Liber  in  Gloria  Martyrum,  cap.  31,  p.  507,  Opera  Gregorii  Tvronen. 
tom.  i.,  Scriptores  rerum  Merovingicarum , of  the  series  Monumenta  Ger- 
ntaniae  Historica,  in  quarto,  Hanover  edition  ; this  gives  a critical  edition  of 
the  text  for  all  the  works  of  the  Bishop  of  Tours. 


224 


APPENDIX 


first  that  was  printed.  Boninus  Mombritius  included  it  in  his 
Sanctuarium,  tom.  ii.  folio  333,  Mediolani,  c.  Anno  1480. 

The  book  De  Miraculis  was  first  edited  by  Frederick 
Nausea,  Coloniae,  1531,  and  next  by  Wolfangus  Lazius,  Basileae, 
1552;  it  was  reprinted  by  J.  A.  Fabricius  in  his  Codex 
Apocryphus  N.T. , Hamburgi,  1703  and  1719. 

12.  Other  Versions 

Besides  the  above  work,  one  somewhat  similar  is  found  also  in 
Ethiopic.  Mr.  Malan  gave  an  English  translation  of  it  under 
the  title  Conflicts  of  the  Apostles.  Mr.  E.  A.  Budge  published 
the  same  work  with  the  title — The  Contendings  of  the  Apostles — 
Gadla  Hawarsjat,  London,  1901,  in  2 vols.,  text  and  English 
translation.  Budge  found  Malan’s  edition  unsatisfactory,  as  it  re- 
produced a modern  faulty  MS  ; the  text  which  he  published  comes 
from  two  MSS,  formerly  belonging  to  King  Theodore  of  Abyssinia, 
brought  from  Magdala  in  1868.  The  MSS  are  probably  of  the 
fifteenth  and  seventeenth  century ; the  oldest  known  MS 
is  at  Paris,  and  is  dated  a.d.  1379.  Dr.  M.  R.  James  has  also 
published  some  writing  called  Acts  of  Thomas , but  this  is  said 
to  be  a different  work.  We  have  had  no  opportunity  of  con- 
sulting the  Ethiopic  versions  ; but  it  may  be  taken  as  a 
general  rule  that  similar  versions  offer  very  little  help  in  re- 
constructing the  text  of  an  ancient,  work — The  Didascalia 
of  the  Apostles , published  by  Thomas  Platt,  Ethiopic  text  and 
translation,  may  be  cited  as  a case  in  point — since  they  are  never 
first-hand  translations,  based  frequently  on  a prior  Arabic  version, 
and  are  comparatively  of  modern  date.  We  take  from  Mr. 
W.  R.  Philipp’s  paper,  The  Connexion  of  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle 
with  India , printed  in  the  Indian  Antiquary  of  1903,  what  will 
give  some  idea  of  the  contents  of  the  Ethiopic  Acts  of  Thomas 
given  in  Mr.  Budge’s  work.  There  seem  to  be  two  narratives. 
The  first  of  these  takes  the  reader  down  to  Act  vi.  of  the 
Syriac  text  (see  No.  24).  The  other  comprises  two  sections  ; 
the  first  is  styled  ‘The  Preaching  of  Saint  Thomas  in  India.’  It 
appears  to  be  a garbled  account,  of  which  some  details  are  taken 
from  the  known  Acts,  and  others,  to  a certain  extent,  invented. 
The  second  section  contains  ‘ The  Martyrdom  of  Saint  Thomas 
in  India.’  This  portion  appears  to  be  based  on  a new  narrative, 
the  new  names  retaining  some  semblance  to  the  older  ones  of 


APPENDIX 


225 

the  known  Acts  ; the  story  can  give  no  help  in  elucidating  the 
Syriac  text. 

An  Arabic  edition,  text  and  translation  of  the  Conflicts  or 
Contendings,  has  been  lately  issued  by  Mrs.  Agnes  Smith  Lewis, 
under  a new  title,  The  Mythological  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ( Horae 
Semiticae,  Nos.  iii.  and  iv.  ut  supr.).  The  Arabic  is  supposed  to 
represent  a Coptic  text,  of  which  up  to  the  present  only  fragments 
are  known  to  exist.  As  this  Arabic  text  gives  a version  of  the 
doings  of  the  Apostle  Thomas,  the  Coptic  most  probably  con- 
tained it.  The  Ethiopic  version  mentioned  above  now  turns  out 
to  be,  as  we  surmised,  a translation  from  this  Arabic  text. 

The  manuscript  of  an  Armenian  version  is  at  Berlin  ; the 
text  is  unpublished  and  consequently  not  available  for  com- 
parison with  the  present  text  of  the  Syriac.  Armenian  versions, 
however,  are  often  more  helpful,  and  bear  a closer  relation  to 
older  originals.  Even  in  literature  of  this  class  the  Armenian 
has  been  found  serviceable  ; it  has  been  employed  with  advantage 
along  with  the  Syriac  version  in  the  study  of  some  Acts,  as  the 
reader  will  have  occasion  to  see. 

13.  Acts  of  Thecla 

The  Acta  of  St.  Thecla,  the  Virgin,  Protomartyr  of  her  sex, 
have  remained  under  a cloud  for  a long  period,  although  several 
Fathers  of  the  Church  refer  to  them  approvingly,  and  quote  the 
story  of  her  triumph  on  the  chief  lines  of  that  early  narrative. 
Among  these,  Basilius,  bishop  of  Seleucia  in  Isauria  (died  a.d. 
458),  has  written  two  books,  De  vita  et  miraculis  S.  Theclae , libri. 
ii.,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  lxxxv. ; also  Nicetas  David,  bishop  in 
Paphlagonia  (died  a.d.  890),  a homily  on  the  Saint,  ibid. , tom.  cv. 
cols.  822-846.  The  Acta,  or  the  saintly  virgin,  are  mentioned 
by  St.  Methodius  of  Tyre,1  bishop  and  martyr,  a.d.  312,  ibid.,  tom. 
xviii.j  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus,  ibid. , tom.  xxxv.  col.  1105.  xxxvii. 
cols.  593,  639,  745  ; St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  ibid.,  tom.  xliv.  col.  1067, 
Homil  xiv.  in  Cantica  Canticorum ; St.  Epiphanius,  Haeres.,  lxxviii. 
n.  16,  and  Haeres.,  lxxix.  n.  5 ; St.  John  Chrysostom,  Homil  xxv. 
in  Actus  Apostolor.,  tom.  ix.,  ed.  Montfaucon  ; St.  Ambrose,  De 
virginibus,  Migne,  P.  L.,  tom.  xvi.  col.  385  ff ; De  virginitate, 
col.  290;  and  Epist.  ad  Vercell.  eccles.,  tom.  xvi.  col.  1250. 

The  Acta  were  first  published  by  Grabbe  ( Spicilegium  SS. 

1 Carl  Schmidt,  Acta  Pauli  (infr. ),  styles  him,  p.  148,  bishop  of  Olympus 
in  Lycia. 

P 


226 


APPENDIX 


Patrurn,  Oxoniae,  1698,  tom.  i.  pp.  93-128  ; they  will  be  found  also 
in  the  second  edition,  Oxoniae,  1700,  tom.  i.  pp.  81-128),  with 
Greek  text  and  Latin  translation.  Thilo,  in  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  was  preparing  a critical  text,  but  did  not 
survive  to  complete  the  task.  His  papers  passed  into  the  hands 
of  C.  Tischendorf,  who  completed  and  published  this  text  in  his 
Acta  Apocrypha , 1851.  As  the  demand  for  such  works  con- 
tinued to  increase,  it  was  decided  to  bring  out  a second  enlarged 
edition  of  Tischendorf s book.  The  editorial  duties  were  divided 
between  R.  A.  Lipsius  and  Max  Bonnet.  The  first  volume  of 
this  edition  is  by  Lipsius  and  appeared  under  the  title  Acta 
Apostolorum  Apocrypha  (Pars  ia  Leipzig)  in  1891.  In  this 
volume  are  the  Acta  Teclae  in  a Greek  text,  taken  from  eleven 
MSS,  pp.  235-272  ; there  are  yet  eight  or  nine  MSS  of  the  text 
in  the  convent  of  Mount  Sinai  which  have  not  been  collated. 
The  Syriac  version  was  published  by  Dr.  W.  Wright  in  his 
Apocryphal  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  two  volumes,  text  and  transla- 
tion, London,  1871  : quotations  will  be  given  from  this  transla- 
tion. An  Armenian  version  of  Theda’s  text  was  published  by 
Conybeare  in  The  Apology  arid  Acts  of  Apollonius,  and  other 
documents  of  early,  Christianity,  2nd  edition,  London,  1896, 
pp.  49  ff.  The  Syriac  and  the  Armenian  offer  the  two  best  texts 
of  the  Acta.  Dom.  H.  Leclercq,  Les  Martyrs,  vol.  i.  Paris,  1902, 
Appendix,  pp.  141-177,  has  much  that  is  of  importance;  he 
also  gives  the  Patristic  and  later  literature  on  the  subject,  and  a 
popular  reconstruction  of  the  story. 

Professor  Carl  Schmidt  has  recently  published  an  important 
text  of  an  apocryphal  writing  connected  with  the  Acts  of  Theda 
recovered  from  over  2000  fragments  of  papyrus  unearthed  in 
Egypt : this  document  is  mentioned  in  the  writings  of  some  of  the 
Fathers,  but  no  copy  of  it  was  heretofore  known — the  Ilpd^eis, 
or  IlepidSovs  of  Paul.  Much  time  and  great  labour  were  spent  in 
reconstructing  these  scraps  and  completing  a connected  narrative. 
Only  one  entire  sheet  of  the  MS  was  recovered — this  contains 
pp.  21-22  of  the  text.  A better  readjustment  of  certain  passages 
may  yet  be  obtained  by  further  patient  labour.  The  work  is 
issued  under  the  title,  Acta  Pauli,  Leipsic,  1904. 

The  text  of  the  Acta,  besides  what  was  invented  by  the  writer 
and  set  down  as  the  doings  and  sayings  of  the  Apostle  during 
his  missionary  excursions  on  the  routes  traced  by  Luke  or  men- 
tioned in  his  Epistles,  embodies  what  are  known  as  the  Acta 


APPENDIX 


227 


Theclae,  also  a third  apocryphal  letter  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians 
and  their  reply,  as  also  the  Apostle’s  Martyrdom.  Of  these,  the 
text  of  the  letters  had  come  down  in  a Syriac  version  and  was 
published  among  the  works  of  St.  Ephraem,  while  the  two  others 
existed  as  separate  writings.  What  is  new  is  the  knowledge  that 
the  Acta  Theclae  formed  part  of  this  early  apocryphal  writing. 
The  words  of  Tertullian,  written  at  the  opening  of  the  third 
century,  condemning  Gnostics,  who  put  forward  a claim  on  behalf 
of  women  to  baptize  and  preach,  now  bear  a much  fuller  mean- 
ing than  had  hitherto  been  assigned  to  them  (de  Baptismo , c. 
xvii.):  Quodsi  qui  Pauli  perperam  inscripta  legunt,  exemplum 
Theclae  ad  licentiam  mulierum  docendi  tinguendique  defendunt, 
sciant  in  Asia  presbyterum,  qui  earn  scripturam  construxit,  quasi 
titulo  Pauli  de  suo  cumulans,  convictum  atque  confessum,  id  se 
amore  Pauli  fecisse  loco  decessisse.  The  brunt  of  the  charge  on 
which  the  presbyter  was  deposed  is  here  assigned  to  his  having 
issued  his  work  as  that  of  Paul.  This  meaning  was  not  fully  appre- 
ciated before,  but  the  present  Coptic  text,  reproducing  the  title 
of  the  Greek  text,  lets  us  know  that  it  was  k [kmt<x]  tov  dnroo-roXov, 
usurping  thus  the  canonical  heading  reserved  to  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament.  Tertullian  probably  had  before  him  a Latin 
text  which  incorporated  the  Acta  Theclae. 

St.  Jerome  {De  viris  illustr .,  c.  vii.)  has  the  following  passage 
on  the  subject : Igitur  IlepioSois  Pauli  et  Theclae  et  totam  bap- 
tizati  leonis  fabulam  inter  apocryphas  scripturas  computamus, 
quale  enim  est  ut  individuus  comes  apostoli  {i.e.  Lucas)  inter 
ceteras  res  hoc  solum  ignoraverit?  sed  et  Tertullianus  vicinus 
eorum  temporum  refert,  presbyterum  quendam  in  Asia  cnrovSacrTrjv 
apostoli  Pauli,  convictum  apud  Joannem,  quod  auctor  esset  libri, 
et  confessum  se  hoc  Pauli  amore  fecisse,  loco  excidisse.  To 
Jerome  also  the  IlepidSot's  Pauli  contained  the  Acta  Theclae. 

After  carefully  comparing  the  German  translation  of  the  Coptic 
text  given  by  Schmidt  with  the  English  version  of  the  Syriac  text 
by  Dr.  Wright,  we  find  that,  with  the  exception  of  several  large 
and  small  lacunse  which  exist,  the  two  versions  run  on  parallel 
lines  as  independent  renderings  of  the  same  text,  even  to  the 
rendering  of  delicate  expressions  of  thought.  While  the  Syriac 
is  made  more  readable  by  connecting  passages  between  the 
sentences,  the  Coptic  is  severely  abrupt  and  generally  cramped 
in  expression.  Occasionally  the  Syriac  will  add  a development 
to  the  thought  expressed,  while  the  Coptic  is  curt.  After  each 


228 


APPENDIX 


lacuna  of  the  MS,  when  the  Coptic  resumed  the  narrative,  it  will 
be  found  to  agree  textually  with  the  complete  Syriac  version  ; 
so  that  it  can  be  asserted  in  all  fairness  that  from  the  opening 
sentences  recovered  from  the  Coptic  MS  down  to  the  two  last 
lines  of  the  same,  also  fortunately  recovered,  both  versions, 
excepting  lacunae,  reflect  the  same  original,  of  which  they  are 
independent  renderings.  We  are  thus  enabled  to  infer  that  were 
the  text  of  the  MS  complete  we  should  find  both  substantially 
the  same. 

Some  of  the  lacunae,  however,  have  deprived  us  of  important 
historical  passages.  The  first  of  the  larger  lacunae  occurring  at 
p.  7 of  the  text  (the  second  of  the  Acts  of  Thecla),  would  have  con- 
tained the  narrative  of  the  meeting  of  Onesiphorus  with  Paul ; the 
text  retains — ‘ on  the  royal  road  which  ’ — and  here  the  lacuna  com- 
mences, omitting  the  important  mention  of  Lystra.  The  second 
large  lacuna,  of  some  sixteen  lines,  pp.  8 and  9,  has  dropped  the 
teaching  of  Paul  at  the  house  of  Onesiphorus,  when  in  the  form  of 
a series  of  new  Beatitudes,  attributed  to  the  Apostle,  in  imitation 
of  those  found  in  the  Gospel,  the  first  germs  of  Gnostic  error 
are  gradually  introduced,  culminating  in  an  open  assertion  that 
wedded  life  is  an  improper  state.  The  third  lacuna,  pp.  17 
and  18,  cuts  off  the  entire  narrative  of  the  ordeals  to  which 
Thecla  was  subjected  at  Iconium  at  her  first  trial  and  con- 
demnation ; a few  lines  only  have  survived  which  tell  us  that 
she  ascended  the  pile  and  the  crowd  set  fire  to  it.  The  fourth 
consists  of  an  entire  sheet,  leaving  a blank  of  two  pages.  This 
lacuna  would  have  contained  Theda’s  second  trial  at  Antioch 
on  the  charge  proffered  by  Alexander,  the  High  Priest  of  Syria. 
Because  of  these,  the  account  given  by  the  Coptic  papyrus  misses 
some  of  the  principal  details  of  the  narrative. 

The  German  professor  contends,  against  the  view  upheld 
by  Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay  and  Corssen,  that  the  Acts  of 
Thecla  had  no  separate  written  form  apart  from  the  work  he 
publishes ; and  that  Basileus  of  Seleucia,  who,  as  we  said, 
wrote  two  books  on  the  life  and  miracles  of  the  saint,  based 
his  information  on  this  text.  It  becomes  of  importance,  if  not 
necessary,  that  we  should  thoroughly  test  the  point  so  raised 
before  proceeding  further.  The  lacunae  indicated  above  will 
considerably  militate  against  the  case  for  a separate  and  prior 
existence  of  Theda’s  Acts  being  argued  fully ; we  shall  be 
compelled,  therefore,  where  the  Coptic  is  deficient,  to  recur  to 


APPENDIX 


229 

the  Syriac  on  the  grounds  stated  above,  and  indicate  what  it 
would  have  contained  were  it  unmutilated. 

Schmidt  attests  that  the  Acta  Pauli  disclose  no  doctrinal 
feature  opposed  to  the  early  teaching  of  the  Church  (except,  he 
says,  a passage  on  p.  9 of  the  MS ; this  includes  the  section 
of  the  Beatitudes).  Supposing  the  editor  is  right  in  his  general 
appreciation  of  what  that  text  assigns  to  Paul  in  other  parts 
of  the  Acta,  will  the  assumption  also  hold  good  as  to  that 
which  gives  us  Theda’s  Acts  ? We  are  of  opinion  it  will  not. 
Among  the  Beatitudes  attributed  to  Paul,  as  explained  above, 
the  Syriac  has  the  following,  which  is  lost  in  the  Coptic  by  the 
second  extensive  lacuna  : ‘ Blessed  are  they  who  have  wives  as 
though  they  had  them  not,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth.’  This 
comes  as  the  fifth  Beatitude  in  the  Syriac,  while  the  first  surviving 
in  the  defective  Coptic  corresponds  to  the  seventh  of  the  former. 
The  doctrine  contained  in  the  above  is  opposed  both  to  the 
Gospel  and  the  Pauline  teaching;  read  1 Corinthians,  vii.  2-5. 
The  doctrine  is  suggested  in  what  survives  of  the  text. 

At  p.  12  of  the  German  translation  of  the  papyrus  text  the 
same  principle  is  again  brought  forward,  but  placed  this  time  in 
the  mouth  of  others.  Thamyris  is  made  to  say : ‘ Who  is  this 
tempter  who  is  within,  with  you  (referring  to  Paul)  deceiving  the 
souls  of  young  men  and  of  virgins  that  they  be  not  married,  but 
remain  as  they  are  ? ’ Demas  and  Hermogenes  are  made  to 
reply  : ‘ This  man,  whence  he  comes,  we  cannot  find  out,  but  he 
separates  the  young  men  from  their  wives  and  the  virgins  from 
their  husbands,  saying  there  will  be  no  resurrection  for  them 
(p.  13)  unless  they  remain  holy  (and)  soil  not  their  flesh,  but 
(keep)  it  pure.’  This  is  no  other  than  the  Gnostic  error  taught  in 
the  second  and  third  centuries ; particulars  may  be  found  under 
Nos.  28  and  29. 

The  question  now  arises,  Did  the  presbyter  of  Asia,  author 
of  the  Acta  Pauli , denounced  by  Tertullian,  embody  this  feature 
of  doctrine  in  his  work,  or  did  it  pre-exist  in  the  Acta  Theclae  l 
If  he  has  shown  no  Gnostic  leanings  in  the  rest  of  the  compila- 
tion, will  it  not  be  legitimate  to  infer  that  the  insertions  are  not 
his,  but  had  been  previously  incorporated  into  the  writing? 
The  case  being  so,  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  the  Acta  of 
Thecla  had  preceded  the  presbyter’s  work. 

We  may  now  briefly  invite  attention  to  other  arguments 
derived  from  Theda’s  text  set  forth  by  Ramsay,  of  which  we 


230 


APPENDIX 


shall  indicate  here  only  two;  see  No.  14.  (1)  The  Acts  recite 

that  Onesiphorus  went  from  Iconium  on  the  royal  road  which 
led  to  Lystra,  and  was  there  waiting  for  Paul’s  arrival,  who  was 
coming  from  Antioch  (of  Pisidia).  For  the  argument  deduced 
from  the  state  of  the  routes  of  communication  existing  about 
a.d.  50  between  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Antioch  correctly  given  in 
the  text,  but  altered  shortly  after  that  date,  a circumstance 
which  a later  writer  would  not  have  known,  we  refer  the  reader 
to  Ramsay’s  book  quoted  at  No.  14.  (2)  Another,  and  in  our 

opinion  the  most  cogent  argument  in  support  of  the  early  exist- 
ence of  the  Acts  of  the  virgin-martyr,  i.e.  shortly  after  the  middle 
of  the  first  century,  will  be  found  in  the  very  correct  presentation 
of  the  position  held  by  Queen  Tryphaena  at  Theda’s  trial  at 
Antioch,  given  in  the  same,  but  which  was  completely  altered 
after  a.d.  54;  see  No.  14. 

Before  closing  this  digression  we  will  invite  attention  to 
another  point  given  in  the  Coptic  MS.  The  Greek  text  (Grabe, 
tom.  i.  p.  108)  assigns  the  cause  of  Theda’s  condemnation  at 
the  second  trial  to  IepocriAia.  The  Latin  version  recites  : ‘ erat 
autem  eulogium  [causa]  eius  scriptum  Sacrilegium.’  The 
Coptic  (transl.  of  Schmidt)  renders  it  thus : ‘ And  the  cause 
which  was  written  behind  her  was  this — -she  had  stolen  from  the 
temple.’  The  rendering  is  simply  absurd  ; the  text  mentions 
neither  temple  nor  theft,  but  the  action  of  Theda  who  snatched 
the  crown  worn  by  Alexander,  the  High  Priest,  and  cast  it  on  the 
road.  The  only  way  of  accounting  for  this  blunder  is  to  suppose 
that  the  Coptic  language  offering  no  equivalent  for  the  word 
‘ sacrilege,’  the  translator  was  bound  to  substitute  its  meaning  ; 
but  he  oilers  one  which  is  not  applicable  to  the  subject.  The 
crime  of  sacrilege  may  be  committed  either  by  theft  from  a 
temple,  or  by  profanation ; the  latter,  which  was  applicable  to 
the  text,  the  Coptic  translator  overlooks,  because,  perhaps,  in 
his  days  sacrilege  chiefly  implied  theft  from  a temple ; but  this 
discloses  a low  intellectual  standard. 

Modern  students,  encouraged  by  what  they  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  referring  to  the  story  of  Theda,  have  begun 
to  examine  the  Acta  more  closely ; not  only  such  parts  of  the 
narrative  as  would  constitute  its  essential  portion,  but  also 
some  striking  details  contained  therein,  and  have  ascertained 
that  many  of  these  do  belong  to  her  age  and  are  of  undoubted 
historical  accuracy  (see  No.  14). 


APPENDIX 


231 


14.  Reconstruction  of  the  ‘Acta’ 

To  M.  Edmond  Le  Blant  (Les  Persecuteurs  et  les  Martyrs , 
Paris,  1893)  is  due  the  credit  of  first  advancing  proofs  of 
substantial  value.  The  chief  points  he  brings  out  may  be 
thus  briefly  summarised.  (1)  Theda’s  appeal  when  indecently 
approached  by  Alexander,  ‘Respect  the  stranger,’ &c.  (2)  The 

sentence  affixed  to  the  post  to  which  she  was  fastened, 

‘ Sacrilegium.’  (3)  When  so  exposed,  she  was  given  a cloth 
or  shift  to  cover  her  person  and  a girdle,  the  cingulum , to 
fasten  it,  for  Roman  law  severely  punished  any  nude  exposure 
of  the  person  of  a female  under  sentence.  (4)  Theda’s  request 
to  the  governor  on  her  condemnation  that  her  virginity  should 
be  respected — a request  supported  by  usage,  and  promptly 
granted. 

But  fora  thorough  critical  examination  of  the  Acta  the  reader 
must  consult  Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay,  The  Church  and  the  Roman 
Empire  before  a.d.  ijo  (7th  edit.,  London,  1903,  chap.  xvi.  pp. 
375  ffi).  We  offer  a condensed  summary  of  this  able  treatment 
of  the  subject,  which  may  also  help  the  reader  to  form  a more 
accurate  opinion  of  the  treatment  which  the  Acts  of  Thomas 
require.  He  starts  with  the  point  that  the  present  form  the 
narrative  assumes  in  the  Acta  is  not  the  work  of  one  author.  He 
proceeds  to  investigate  whether  the  component  parts  can  be 
separated,  and  to  what  date  they  can  be  assigned ; further,  if  the 
earlier  or  original  parts  came  down  as  a traditional  legend,  or 
belonged  to  a literary  composition ; and  follows  up  this  investi- 
gation with  an  inquiry  as  to  what  historical  value  this  early  writing 
possesses.  The  cardinal  feature  of  the  inquiry  turns  on  the 
historical  reality  of  the  Queen,  Tryphaena,  who  bears  a prominent 
part  in  the  tale.  She  is  there  shown  to  have  become  a second 
mother  to  the  Christian  virgin,  and  to  have  protected  her  honour 
and  eventually  to  have  saved  her  life. 

The  historical  evidence  of  her  reality  is  offered  by  her  coins. 

Von  Gutschmidt,  says  Ramsay,  was  the  first  to  point  out 
that  Queen  Tryphaena  was  probably  a historical  character. 
He  appealed  to  certain  rare  coins  of  the  kingdom  of  Pontus, 
which  show  on  the  obverse  the  bust  of  a king  with  the  title 
— BASIAEi22  nOAEMANOS,  on  the  reverse  the  bust  of  a 
queen  with  the  title  BA2IAIXSHS  TPY<f>AINHS,  and  he 
urged  that  the  queen  whose  bust  appears  on  Pontic  coins 


232 


APPENDIX 


was  the  Queen  Tryphaena  of  the  Acta.  Obvious  difficulties 
arose  against  the  identification.  The  Tryphaena  of  the  Acta 
was  apparently  a Roman  subject  residing  at  Antioch  [of  Pisidia], 
who  complained  of  her  isolation  and  friendlessness.  The 
Polemon  of  the  coins  was  a powerful  king  known  to  have  reigned 
in  Pontus  from  a.d.  37  to  63,  and  was  a Greek.  His  wife  could 
not,  on  any  reasonable  hypothesis,  be  an  elderly  woman  in  a.d.  50, 
as  Tryphaena  is  represented  in  the  tale.  Further  research, 
carried  on  chiefly  by  Von  Sallet,  Waddington,  and  Mommsen, 
disclosed  that  Tryphaena  was  ‘cousin  once  removed  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius,  her  mother  Pythodoris  being  his  full  cousin  ; ’ 
the  mother  of  Pythodoris  and  of  Claudius  were  sisters  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  Triumvir  Marcus  Antonius.  Queen  Tryphaena  in  her 
own  right  was  queen  of  Pontus,  and  was  married  to  Cotis,  king  of 
Thrace,  where,  being  only  queen-consort,  her  name  does  not 
appear  on  those  coins.  The  coin  bearing  the  inscription  given 
above  represents  Polemon  as  a young  man,  and  the  lady  on  the 
reverse  is  a mature  woman ; they  could  not  be  husband  and 
wife,  but  were  mother  and  son,  she  reigning  in  her  own  right  as 
Queen  of  Pontus,  which  her  son  Polemon  was  to  inherit.  The 
coin  is  of  the  year  a.d.  37,  when  her  son,  aged  about  nineteen, 
was  made  king,  and  she  herself  was  about  forty-six  years  of  age. 
In  a.d.  50  she  was,  therefore,  nearly  sixty.  This  would  suit  the 
Acta  perfectly.  (For  particulars  of  Queen  Tryphaena’s  family,  see 
Theodor  Mommsen,  Ephitneris  Epigraphica,  1872,  vol.  i.  pp. 
270  ff ; and  vol.  ii.  pp.  259  ff.), 

Mr.  Ramsay  (p.  388)  says : 1 It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that 
the  Emperor  Claudius  died  in  54  a.d.  and  Nero  succeeded  him ; 
the  new  emperor  rather  made  a point  of  throwing  contempt  and 
ridicule  on  his  predecessor.  After  a few  years  he  even  stripped 
Polemon  of  his  kingdom  of  Pontus,  leaving  him,  however,  a 
principality  among  the  mountain  districts  of  western  Cilicia. 
The  picture  given  in  the  Acta  of  Tryphaena’s  situation,  while 
true  to  the  time  in  which  the  scene  is  laid,  ceases  to  be  so  after 
a very  few  years  had  passed ; after  54  she  was  no  longer  a 
relative  of  the  emperor,  and  in  all  probability  she  lost  most  of 
her  personal  influence  with  the  Roman  officials.’ 

Mr.  Ramsay  points  out  ‘as  a striking  instance  of  the  histori- 
cal value  of  early  Christian  documents,  that,  apart  from  the  coins 
the  only  deep  mark  the  dynasty  has  left  in  literature  is  in  a 
Christian  work,’  the  Acta  of  Thecla.  The  reader  should  not 


APPENDIX 


233 


fail  to  take  note  of  the  very  striking  historical  coincidence  and 
similarity  there  exists  between  the  case  of  Queen  Tryphaena  of 
Pontus,  mentioned  in  the  Acta , and  that  of  Gondophares,  king  of 
the  Indians,  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas.  In  both  cases  the  written 
record  of  their  existence  was  retained  exclusively  in  ecclesiastical 
literature,  and  both  again  only  in  recent  years  obtained  con- 
firmation of  historical  value  from  coins  discovered  bearing  their 
effigy  and  their  legend. 

It  was,  as  has  been  already  said,  owing  to  the  protection 
offered  to  Thecla  by  this  queen,  to  whom  the  Roman  authori- 
ties showed  every  deference,  that  the  virgin’s  life  was  saved. 
This  can  now  cause  no  surprise,  since  her  close  relationship  to 
the  emperor  Claudius  and  her  own  rank  are  known.  This 
position  is  very  faithfully  reflected  in  the  story  told  in  the  Acta, 
which  would  not  be  the  case  had  they  been  the  product  of  a 
later  age,  as  all  memory  of  her  position  would  by  then  have 
been  lost  owing  to  the  want  of  any  literary  record  of  the  queen 
and  the  position  she  held. 

The  Acta  contain  two  trials  of  Thecla,  one  at  her  native 
city  of  Iconium,  which  is  said  to  have  been  presided  over  by  a 
Roman  governor,  and  where  the  charge  laid  against  her  was 
that  she  would  not  marry  Thamyris  to  whom  she  had  been 
betrothed,  and  was  in  consequence  condemned  to  be  burnt 
alive.  The  trial,  in  the  form  it  bears  in  the  present  text,  is 
rejected  by  Ramsay  on  two  grounds  : that  Iconium  at  that  date 
had  not  yet  obtained  the  privilege  of  a governor ; the  other  that 
the  case  was  not  one  that  could  be  taken  into  court,  much  less 
could  she  for  such  refusal  be  condemned  to  capital  punishment, 
a sentence  which  no  inferior  magistrate  could  inflict  but  which 
was  reserved  exclusively  to  the  governor.  He  ascribes  all  these 
additions  to  a later  hand  which  manipulated  the  older  text.  The 
only  way,  he  maintains,  that  Theda’s  refusal  to  marry  Thamyris 
could  be  treated,  would  be  restricted  to  the  family  circle.  Some 
trace  that  such  was  once  the  form  of  this  part  of  the  tale  is 
found  in  a homily  of  about  the  year  300,  wrongly  attributed  to 
Chrysostom  (see  Hotnil.  in  A.  Theclam,  opera,  2nd  edit,  of  Mont- 
faucon,  Paris,  vol.  ii.  pp.  896-99).  The  author  therein  gives 
quite  a different  account  of  this  portion  of  the  story.  He 
narrates  how  every  effort  was  made  to  bring  family  influence  to 
shake  the  virgin’s  resolution ; how,  also,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  age,  the  servants  were  introduced  weeping  to  implore  their 


234 


APPENDIX 


young  mistress  not  to  reject  her  marriage  pledge.  It  is  possible 
she  may  have  been  produced  before  a local  magistrate  to  intimi- 
date her  even  by  threats,  but  she  must  eventually  have  been 
allowed  to  go  free.  She  then  wandered  about  seeking  for  Paul, 
guided  by  rumours  of  his  movements.  Her  lover  pursued  and 
overtook  her ; when  on  the  point  of  becoming  a victim  to  his 
violence,  she  prayed  to  heaven  for  help.  Here  the  fragment  ends 
most  inappropriately.  This  older  form  of  the  tale  must  have 
had  no  presiding  Roman  governor,  no  condemnation,  and  con- 
sequently no  sentence  of  punishment  as  is  given  in  the  first  trial. 
This  places  the  story  on  its  true  historical  basis,  and  it  implies 
as  well  that  the  Gnostic  doctrinal  additions,  and  the  introduc- 
tion on  the  scene  of  persons  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  and  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul , as  Onesiphorus,  Titus, 
Demas,  and  Hermogenes,  are  the  outcome  of  later  enlargements 
by  an  unwise  admirer  of  the  Apostle  in  the  latter,  and  by  heretics 
in  the  former  case. 

The  trial,  on  the  other  hand,  of  Thecla  at  Antioch — not  of 
Asia,  as  some  have  erroneously  supposed,  but  of  Pisidia — is  up- 
held ; the  details  of  which,  as  given  in  the  better  texts,  are 
shown  to  fit  in  admirably  with  the  known  circumstances  of  time 
and  place,  and  reflect  the  prevailing  social  customs  of  that  part 
of  Asia.  Alexander,  whom  the  text  represents  as  an  important 
personage  and  a resident  in  the  city,  was  going  to  hold  games 
with  the  production  of  wild  beasts  in  the  arena,  called  by  the 
Romans  Venation  Such  games  were  only1  given  in  large  pro- 
vincial capitals,  and  though  Antioch  had  no  resident  governor, 
the  position  of  Alexander  justifies  the  surmise  that  the  governor 
had  accepted  an  invitation  to  grace  the  festivities  with  his 
presence,  and  the  coming  of  the  governor,  the  celebration  of 
the  games,  and  possibly  an  invitation,  would  naturally  explain 
the  presence  of  Queen  Tryphaena  at  Antioch  from  her  estates 
situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Iconium. 

The  charge  laid  by  Alexander  against  the  Christian  virgin 
would  be  construed  as  one  of  sacrilege,  since,  according  to 
Ramsay,  Alexander  was  ‘ the  high  priest  of  Syria,’  whose  official 
dignity  was  considered  to  have  been  outraged  when  Thecla  tore 

1 The  reader  may  usefully  refer  to  Dom  Leclercq’s  article,  ‘ Ad  Bestias,’ 
Diction,  tf  ArchCoIogie  Chrdtienne  et  de  Liturgie,  Paris,  1903,  cols.  449-462, 
for  an  elaborate  account  of  such  Roman  sports,  including  the  condemnatio  ad 
bestias,  and  the  incident  of  St.  Thecla. 


APPENDIX 


235 


off  the  crown  from  his  head  and  flung  it  on  the  ground  and  rent 
his  garment.1  As  to  Alexander’s  conduct : when  the  assault  was 
committed,  he  was  then  going  to  the  games  escorted  by  his 
followers ; he  met  Thecla  entering  the  city,  and,  attracted  by 
the  charm  of  her  beauty,  he  embraced  and  kissed  her.  From 
a Roman  social  point  of  view,  it  is  explained,  he  took  her 
for  a dancing  girl,  whose  status  would  not  be  outraged  by 
such  attention  as  he  had  paid  her.  That  this  represents 
the  true  view  of  the  case  will  be  found  supported  by  what  is 
narrated  in  the  Acta.  Thecla,  at  the  outrage  offered  to  her, 
cried  out  bitterly  (Wright’s  translation,  p.  131),  ‘Do  not  force 
the  stranger ! Do  not  force  the  handmaid  of  god  [the  servant 
of  God]  ! I am  a noble’s  daughter  of  the  city  of  Iconium.’ 

On  the  occasion  when  Thecla  was  going  to  be  removed  from 
Queen  Tryphaena’s  protection  to  be  exposed  to  the  wild  beasts 
in  the  arena,  the  latter  exclaims  in  grief  (p.  134):  ‘Thy  help 
O God  (I  implore) ; for  lo,  twice  is  there  mourning  in  my  house, 
and  I have  no  one  to  help  me ; for  my  daughter  lives  not,  she 
is  dead,  and  there  is  none  of  my  kinsmen  to  stand  at  my  side, 
and  I am  a widow.’  The  points  here  put  forth  admirably  suit 
her  position  ; she  had  mourned  her  husband  and  her  daughter  ; 
into  the  latter’s  place,  as  the  tale  says,  she  had  taken  Thecla, 
and  she  was,  besides,  away  from  her  sons,  who  were  Kings  of 
Thrace,  Pontus,  and  Armenia,  and  on  Roman  territory.  The 
latter  fact  is  also  capable  of  a reasonable  explanation.  Her 
lonely  presence  there  would  probably  be  the  result  of  friction 
between  herself  and  her  son,  the  King  of  Pontus.  She  had 
reigned  before  him  in  her  own  right,  and  it  is  most  probable 
that  her  son  after  a time  preferred  to  be  unfettered  by  her 
presence ; on  that  account  she  may  have  left  the  kingdom,  or 
she  may  have  been  exiled. 

We  will  quote  a passage  describing  what  happened  when 
Thecla  was  fastened  to  the  post  bearing  her  sentence  of  con- 
demnation, ‘ Sacrilegium,’  and  a lion  or  lioness  was  let  loose 
upon  her  (p.  139):  ‘Queen  Tryphaena,  who  was  standing  by 

1 Under  Roman  rule  there  existed  sacerdotes  provinciae  and  flamines  ; the 
former  presided  over  public  sports,  the  latter  were  priests  of  the  emperor  in 
the  sense  of  the  divine  honours  rendered  to  them  in  municipal  functions. 
Alexander  is  thus  the  ‘ Sacerdos  provinciae  ’ presiding  at  the  games,  and  is 
invested  with  (pagan)  sacerdotal  office  ; see  Diction.  cPArchcol.  ChrCt.  et  de 
Liturg.,  ut  supr.,  article  ‘ Adoratio,’  col.  542  f. 


236 


APPENDIX 


the  door  of  the  theatre,  fainted  away  and  fell  down  on  the 
ground,  because  she  thought  that  Thecla  was  dead.  And  when 
her  slaves  saw  that  she  had  fainted  and  fallen  down,  they  broke 
out  into  wailing,  and  rent  their  garments  and  say,  “ The  Queen 
is  dead ! ” And  when  the  hegemon  (governor)  heard  them  say 
“ The  Queen  is  dead ! ” (he  stopped  the  games)  and  the  whole 
city  trembled.  And  Alexander  was  afraid,  and  he  ran  (and) 
came  and  said  to  the  hegemon : “ Have  pity  on  me,  sir,  and 
also  on  this  city,  and  release  this  (woman  who  was)  doomed  to 
be  devoured  by  beasts,  that  she  may  go  away  from  us,  so  that 
the  city  too  may  not  perish,  lest  perchance,  when  Caesar 
[Claudius]  hears  of  these  things  which  we  have  done,  he  may 
destroy  the  city,  for  Queen  Tryphaena  is  of  the  family  of  Caesar, 
and  lo,  she  was  standing  beside  the  door  of  the  theatre,  and 
she  is  dead.’”  The  Acta  state  further  that  the  governor  caused 
criers  to  proclaim  (p.  140)  to  the  people : ‘ Thecla  who  is  God’s 
[of  the  god],  and  Thecla  who  is  righteous,  I have  released  and 
given  unto  you.’  The  Greek  text  says : ‘ I release  to  you  Thekla 
the  servant  of  the  god.’  By  this  it  is  implied,  in  the  sense 
understood  by  pagans— as  Thecla  had  twice  asserted  herself  to 
be  the  handmaid  of  God — that  she  was  a woman  who  had  given 
herself  in  celibacy  to  a god,  and  her  innocence  under  the  cir- 
cumstances is  proclaimed.  All  this  admirably  reflects  the  social 
state  and  public  opinion  prevailing  in  that  corner  of  Asia  which 
was  the  scene  of  the  events  described. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  at  this  trial  Theda’s  religion  was 
not  openly  brought  into  question,  therefore  it  must  have  taken 
place  before  the  edicts  of  Nero,  who  ruled  a.d.  54-68,  against 
the  new  faith,  were  published ; these  ordered  the  extreme  penalty 
of  the  law  for  the  profession  of  the  Christian  faith  unless  the 
person  recanted. 

Mr.  Ramsay  puts  a new  construction  on  the  passage  of 
Tertullian  given  above  (we  have  partly  reflected  his  opinion  in 
our  translation).  He  maintains  that  Tertullian  was  aware  of 
the  existence  of  a narrative  older  than  that  which  he  attributes 
to  the  presbyter  of  Asia ; his  words  show  that  the  book  was  not 
composed  but  constructed  by  him — ‘earn  scripturam  construxit, 
quasi  titulo  Pauli  ’ — and,  if  any  ambiguity  or  doubt  of  the  right 
meaning  yet  prevails,  this  is  entirely  removed  by  the  short 
formula  added  to  the  preceding  words — ‘ de  suo  cumulans  ’ — 
adding  of  his  own.  Ramsay,  after  Zahn,  ascribes  the  known 


APPENDIX 


237 


remark  of  St.  Ignatius  the  martyr  (a.d.  107)  regarding  the 
exposure  of  Christians  to  wild  beasts,  ‘ as  they  have  done  to 
some,  refusing  to  touch  them  through  fear’  (Ep.  ad  Roman.,  c.  v.), 
to  what  is  said  of  Theda’s  escape  when  exposed  to  the  wild 
beasts,  whether  a lion  or  lioness  and  a bear. 

The  details  now  contained  in  the  opening  section  of  the 
Acta,  Ramsay  assigns  to  a later  period.  They  reflect,  in  fact,  a 
period  in  the  second  century  when  persecution  against  the 
professors  of  the  faith  was  thoroughly  established  by  the  new 
legislation  introduced  by  Nero  and  extended  by  his  successors 
throughout  the  empire.  The  historical  allusions  of  this  section 
he  ascribes  to  two  successive  dates.  About  the  year  130  the  tale 
was  enlarged  by  one  who  accepted  it  as  true,  but  who  wished  to 
connect  it  with  persons  and  incidents  known  and  mentioned  by 
St.  Paul,  whose  names  occur  in  the  canonical  books.  A further 
reconstruction,  he  suggests,  took  place  between  140-160  : and 
this  caused  the  introduction  of  the  trial  scene  at  Iconium,  which 
had  then  become  a chief  town  governed  by  an  official  of  consular 
rank.  Mr.  Ramsay  has  purposely  abstained  from  dealing  with 
the  doctrinal  features  of  the  story ; we  therefore  think  it  right 
to  suggest  that  they  could  not  have  been  inserted  much  later 
than  the  second  period  mentioned  above,  when  the  second 
interpolator,  the  Gnostic  scribe,  deftly  interjected  the  germs  of 
Gnostic  antipathy  to  wedded  life ; for  the  text  of  the  newly 
recovered  Acta  Pauli  contains  them. 

We  should  not  close  this  section  without  placing  before  the 
reader  the  latest  discovered  testimony  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
Acta  Theclae  borne  by  the  lady  pilgrim  (Gamurrini,  S.  Silviae 
Peregrinatio,  Romae,  1887).  She  writes  in  her  journal  (p.  73): 
Sed  quoniam  de  Tharso  tertia  mansione,  id  est  in  Hisauria  est 
martyrium  sanctae  Theclae,  gratum  fuit  satis,  ut  etiam  illuc 
accederem  praesertim  cum  tarn  in  proximo  esset.  And  at  p. 
74 : ibi  ergo  cum  venissem  in  nomine  Dei,  facta  oratione 
martyrium,  nec  non  etiam  lectus  omnis  actus  sanctae  Theclae, 
gratias  domino  nostro  egi  infinitas,  qui  mihi  dignatus  est  indignae 
et  non  merenti  in  omnibus  desideria  complere — ‘ The  Martyrion 
of  St.  Thecla  is  situated  in  Isauria  at  a distance  of  three  stages 
from  Tharsus,  and  it  was  most  gratifying  to  me  to  visit  it ; the 
more  so  since  I wTas  in  the  vicinity.  When  by  God’s  bless- 
ing I arrived  there,  I prayed  at  the  Martyrion,  read  also  the 
entire  Acts  of  St.  Thecla,  and  gave  infinite  thanks  to  our  Lord 


APPENDIX 


238 

who  granted  me,  so  unworthy,  the  happiness  of  fulfilling  all  my 
wishes.’  The  visit  was  paid  by  the  lady  pilgrim  about  the  year 
388  ; she  is  held  to  be  Egeria  or  Etheria,  a Spanish  lady  (see 
Dom.  M.  Fero tin’s  Le  veritable  auteur  de  la  Peregrinatio  Silviae, 
Paris,  1903). 


15.  Interpolated  by  Gnostics 

We  now  pass  on  to  consider  how  these  early  writings  were 
manipulated  by  Gnostics.  The  quotations  will  be  taken,  as 
before,  from  Wright’s  translation.  From  the  outset,  advantage 
is  cleverly  taken  of  Paul’s  arrival  at  a house  at  Iconium — the 
supposed  house  of  Onesiphorus 1 — to  introduce  Gnostic  tenets 
attacking  the  propriety  and  sanctity  of  the  married  state.  These 
are  introduced  in  the  discourse  given,  which  is  stated  to  have 
been  on  concupiscence  of  the  flesh  and  on  future  resur- 
rection. The  fact  that  Thecla  was  betrothed  to  Thamyris  was 
too  good  an  opportunity  to  be  overlooked,  so  Theda’s  home 
is  conveniently  placed  adjoining  that  of  Onesiphorus,  and  she 
becomes  an  assiduous  listener  to  the  Apostle’s  supposed  Gnostic 
teachings. 

Her  mother  becomes  impatient  at  the  daughter’s  conduct. 
She  remarks  to  her  future  son-in-law,  ‘ I say  to  thee,  Tamyris,  he 
(Paul)  has  perverted  the  whole  city  of  the  Iconians,  thy  betrothed 
too,  and  many  other  women ; and  young  men  go  to  him  and  he 
teaches  them  to  live  purely.’  Thamyris,  driven  well-nigh  to  despair 
by  the  attitude  of  his  bride  in  spite  of  all  his  remonstrances, 
finding  two  men,  who  had  come  out  of  the  house  where  Paul 
lodged,  disputing  in  the  street,  rushes  out  to  meet  them  and 
inquires,  1 Who  is  this  man  within,  with  you,  who  leads  astray 
the  souls  of  young  women  and  of  virgins  and  commands  that 
there  should  be  no  marriage  feasts,  but  that  they  should  live  as 
they  are  ? ’ Demas  and  Hermogenes,  who  turned  false  to  the 
Apostle  (2  Tim.  iv.  9 ; i.  15),  are  here  represented  to  be  the  two 
companions  who  had  come  out  of  the  house.  They  reply,  ‘ We 
do  not  know  him ; but  he  separates  young  men  from  the  virgins 
and  the  virgins  from  the  young  men.’  When  Paul  is  dragged 
before  the  hegemon,  the  cry  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  populace  is, 

1 It  should  be  known  he  had  been  a frequent  host  of  the  Apostle  elsewhere 
and  had  visited  St.  Paul  while  in  captivity,  and  Paul  showed  himself  very 
grateful  for  such  kindness  and  attention,  2 Tim.  i.  16  ; iv.  19. 


APPENDIX 


239 

‘ Drag  him  along,  he  is  a magician,  for  he  has  corrupted  all  our 
wives.’  Paul  is  scourged  and  cast  out  of  the  city. 

We  learn  from  St.  Epiphanius,  Haeres.  xlvii.,  that  the  sect  of 
Gnostics  was  spread  largely  over  that  portion  of  Asia  to  which 
these  Acta  belong : Horum  ingens  est  hodie  numerus  in  Pisidia 
eaque  Phrysiae  parte,  &c. — praeterea  in  Asiae  provinciis  et  in 
Isauria,  Pamphilia,  Cilicia,  Galatia,  & c.  Theda  was  greatly 
venerated  in  those  parts,  as  the  homilies  of  the  bishops  of  these 
countries  attest.  It  was  therefore  a master-stroke  on  the  part  of 
the  heretics  to  secure  the  Acta  and  make  them  an  early  purveyor 
of  their  doctrine. 

The  skeleton  of  this  writing,  skilfully  reconstructed  by  Ramsay 
(end  of  chap,  xvi),  shows  that  the  original  narrative  would  men- 
tion her  having  heard  Paul  preaching,  perhaps  in  the  streets,  and 
that  she  embraced  the  Christian  faith  and  eventually  decided  to 
devote  herself  to  God  and  to  preserve  her  virginity.  On  this 
account  she  had  to  face  domestic  trials,  which  induced  her  to 
leave  her  home  and  follow  Paul.  On  her  entering  Antioch  of 
Pisidia,  the  incident  occurred  which  caused  her  to  be  charged 
with  the  crime  of  ‘ sacrilege  ’ against  the  person  of  the  high  priest 
of  Syria,  on  which  account  she  had  to  appear  for  judgment 
before  the  governor.  Having  upheld  her  conduct,  she  was 
sentenced  to  be  exposed  to  wild  beasts,  and  this  occurred 
at  the  games  then  being  held  there.  The  account  contained 
the  intervention  of  Queen  Tryphaena  with  the  incidents  con- 
nected with  her.  Her  subsequent  traditional  history  makes  her 
lead  a life  of  active  usefulness  in  spreading  the  faith ; she  spent 
her  later  years  in  a sort  of  retired  life  with  other  holy  virgins,  on 
the  spot  where  the  lady  pilgrim  went  to  pray  at  her  Martyrion, 
and  where  she  found  a convent  of  holy  women,  under  the 
direction  of  a person  whose  acquaintance  she  had  made  in  the 
Holy  Land. 

16.  Acts  of  Andrew  also  Adopted  by  Them 

It  is  singular  that  no  mention  is  made  by  St.  Epiphanius  that  the 
Acta  of  Thecla  were  utilised  by  the  Gnostics,  though  he  mentions 
her  {Haeres.,  lxxix.,  n.  v.,  and  compares  her  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  again,  Haeres .,  Ixxviii.,  n.  xvi.);  the  reason  perhaps  might 
be  that  the  Acta  were  not  read  at  their  assemblies,  as  will  be 
seen  were  such  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  they  had  revised  for  their 


240 


APPENDIX 


purposes.  The  Acts  of  an  Apostle  could  be  made  to  pass  as 
Scriptural  writings,  but  not  the  former.  Epiphanius  makes  express 
mention  that  they  used  the  Acts  of  Andrew  as  well  as  those  of 
Thomas ; the  quotation  will  be  found  in  the  sequel.  It  would 
appear  that  the  modified  form  of  the  Acts  of  Andrew  used  by 
them  has  not  come  down  to  us,  for  those  which  we  possess  do 
not  disclose  the  peculiar  tenets  of  the  sect,  while  those  of 
Thomas  attest  how  thoroughly  they  had  been  adapted  for 
doctrinal  purposes. 

Acts  of  Andrew  consist  of  two  sections.  One  reports  his 
doings  when,  on  a mission  assigned  to  him  by  our  Lord,  he 
went  to  the  relief  of  the  Apostle  Matthew,  who  was  imprisoned 
and  deprived  of  his  sight. 1 The  country  mentioned  cannot  be 
identified  from  the  text,  but  it  would  appear  to  be  in  Africa,  as 
the  inhabitants  are  described  to  be  cannibals.  The  other  section 
treats  of  his  doings  in  Greece  and  the  Asiatic  borderland,  until 
under  yEgeas  he  suffered  martyrdom  in  Achaia. 

Of  the  Acts  of  Andrew  we  have  a Syriac  text  covering  the 
ground  of  the  first  section  in  Wright’s  Apocryphal  Acts  op  the 
Apostles.  These  await  at  the  hands  of  a competent  scholar 
treatment  similar  to  that  which  the  Acts  of  Thomas  received 
from  Burkitt.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  Syriac  text  or  translation 
of  the  Acts  of  Andrew  covering  the  narrative  of  the  second 
section.  Greek  texts  or  versions  of  these  Acts  were  published 
by  Tischendorf,  Acta  Apocrypha , 1851,  pp.  105  ff. ; but  a 
much  fuller  second  edition  has  been  published  by  Hermann 
Mendelssohn,  in  Leipsic.  The  second  volume  of  this  series 
(badly  numbered ; the  series  comprises  three  volumes),  marked 
Part  ii.  vol.  i.,  1898,  edited  by  Max  Bonnet,  contains  the 
following  Greek  texts — (1)  Ex  Actis  Andreae,  pp.  38-45;  (2) 
two  sets  of  Martyrium  Andreae , pp.  46-64;  (3)  Acta  Andreae  et 
Mathiae , pp.  1 17-127 — in  Bonnet’s  Supplementum  Codicis  Apocry- 
phi , ii.,  Paris,  1895  ; (4)  Acta  Andreae  cum  laudatione,  pp.  3-44  ; 
(5)  Martyrium  Andreae , pp.  44-64.  There  are  two  Passiones  in 

1 The  Greek  narrative  of  Andrew’s  voyage  to  the  relief  of  his  fellow- 
Apostle  gives  the  name  ‘ Mathias,’  while  the  Syriac  text  all  through  shows 
that  the  visit  was  made  to  relieve  the  Evangelist  Matthew.  The  country  is 
in  Africa,  and  we  know  from  traditions  reported  in  Chapter  V.  that  it  must 
have  been  to  Matthew,  who  was  preaching  the  Gospel  in  Ethiopia  of  old. 
The  Syriac  form  of  Matthew  is  Matthai,  and  in  familiar  form,  Matthu. 
Perhaps  Matthai  has  been  erroneously  turned  into  Mathias. 


APPENDIX 


241 


Latin:  (1)  Passio  Andreae , ‘ quam  oculis  nostris  vidimus  omnes 
presbyteri  et  diaconi  ecclesiarum  Achaiae  ’ (in  former  vol.)  pp. 
r-37  ; (2)  Passio  Andreae , ‘ Conversante  et  docente,’  &c.  (in 
Suppl. , ii.)  pp.  66-70.  We  have  also  in  Latin  (3)  Liber  de 
Miraculis  B.  Andreae  Apostoli ; this  has  been  edited  by  Bonnet 
with  the  critical  text  of  the  works  of  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  issued 
by  Arndt  and  Krusch  ( ut  supr.,  pt.  ii.  826-846). 

17.  St.  Gregory  of  Tours,  Author  of  f De  Miraculis 
Beati  Andreae’ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  St.  Gregory  of  Tours  is  the 
writer  of  the  above  book.  Ruinart,  the  Benedictine  editor  of 
Gregory’s  writings  ( Opera  omnia , Lutetiae  Parisiorum,  1699,  in 
preface  n.  77)  says:  Librum  de  Miraculis  sancti  Andreae  sub 
Gregorii  Turonensis  nomine  invenimus  in  codice  bibliothecae 
nostrae  sancti  Germani  a Pratis  ab  annis  circiter  sexcentis  scripto, 
qui  liber  in  aliis  quoque  codicibus  habetur  sed  absque  Gregorii 
praefatione.  Hanc  autem  praefationem  sicut  et  brevem  operis 
epilogum  Gregorii  fetum  esse  styli  et  scribendi  ratio  vix  dubitare 
sinunt.  The  above-mentioned  codex  is  marked  by  Bonnet 
{ut  supr.,  pt.  ii.  p.  823)  4b  in  his  references;  it  is  the  ‘ Parisiacus 
Lat.  12603  (S.  Germani  a Pratis)  saecl.  xiii.’  To  the  possible 
objection  that  Gregory  does  not  include  it  in  the  list  of  his  own 
works,  Ruinart  replies  : Neque  id  mirandum  videri  debet  siquidem 
nec  librum  ibi  recensuit  Missarum  Apollinaris  Sidonii  cui  alias 
{Hist.  Franc.,  lib.  ii.,  c.  xxii.]  se  praefationem  adjunxisse  memorat  ; 
nec  passionem  Septem  Dormientium  Ephesinorum  quam  e 
Graeco  in  Latinum  a se  translatam  fuisse  ipsemet  alibi  testatur. 

Bonnet  supplements  the  above  by  adducing  cogent  evidence 
from  the  text  of  the  book  itself.  The  author,  in  chap,  xxxvii.  ( oper . 
cit.,  p.  846)  of  the  book,  says  : Nam  ferunt,  hoc  oleum  usque  ad 
medium  basilicae  sanctae  decurrere,  sicut  in  primo  miraculorum 
scripsimus  libro ; this  is  no  other  than  his  well-known  work  ‘in 
Gloria  Martyrum,’  which,  according  to  Gregory,  comprises  eight 
books,  of  which  it  is  the  first,  while  the  eighth  or  last  is  ‘ in 
Gloria  Confessorum.’  See  detailed  list  in  Prologo  Gl.  Confessor., 
op.  cit.,  p.  748.  Gregory  continues  : Passionis  quoque  ejus  ita 
ordinem  prosecuti  non  sumus,  quia  valde  utiliter  et  eleganter  a 
quodam  repperimus  fuisse  conscriptum.  The  ‘ a quodam  ’ 
excludes  the  Passio,  with  the  letter  of  ‘ the  priests  and  deacons  of 

Q 


242 


APPENDIX 


Achaia,’  and  so  refers  to  the  other  Passio  Andreae  ‘ Conversante 
et  docente.’  From  this  we  learn  that  Gregory  did  not  re-edit 
the  Passio  he  knew,  as  it  was  ‘ utiliter  et  eleganter  conscripta.’ 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  these  different  features  of 
Gregory’s  work. 

This  book,  De  Miraculis  B.  Andreae,  is  bodily  incorporated 
in  the  Latin  compilation  that  goes  by  the  name  of  Abdias. 
Ruinart  was  then  mistaken  in  supposing  that  Gregory  had 
taken  his  text  from  that  collection.  Migne  reproduces  the 
same  mistake  in  his  reprint  of  Gregory’s  works.  We  find  it 
necessary  to  reproduce  here  the  pro-  and  the  epi-logue  of  this 
book,  as  both  are  wanted  for  comparison  with  a text  that  will 
follow. 

The  Prologue  (p.  827). 

Inclita  sanctorum  apostolorum  trophea  nulli  credo  latere 
fidelium,  quia  quaedam  exinde  evangelica  dogmata  docent,  quae- 
dam  apostolici  actus  narrant,  de  quibusdam  vero  extant  libri,  in 
quibus  propriae  actiones  eorum  denotantur.  De  plerisque  enim 
nihil  aliud  nisi  passionum  scripta  suscipimus.  Nam  repperi  lib- 
rum  de  virtutibus  sancti  Andreae  Apostoli  qui  propter  nimiam 
verbositatem  a nonnullis  apocryphus  dicebatur ; de  quo  placuit,  ut, 
retractis  enucleatisque  tantum  virtutibus,  praetermissis  his  quae 
fastidium  generabant,  uno  tantum  parvo  volumine  admiranda 
miracula  clauderentur  quod  et  legentibus  praestaret  gratiam  et 
detrahentium  auferret  invidiam  quia  inviolatam  fidem  non  exigit 
multitude  verbositatis,  sed  integritas  rationis  et  puritas  mentis.1 

The  preface  tells  us  of  the  existence  of  a book,  De  Virtutibus 
sancti  Andreae  apostoli.  Bonnet  (p.  821,  i.  13)  remarks: 
Quanta  autem  fuerit  ilia  ‘ multitude  verbositatis  ’ quam  Gregorius 
a se  amputatam  ait,  sciet  qui  contenderit  cum  c i.  Acta  Graeca 
a Tischendorfio  edita  {Acta  Apostolor.  Apocryph , p.  132  seq.)  It 
gives  us  also  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  ‘ trophea  ’ of  the 
Apostles,  viz.,  of  the  writings  which  narrated  their  doings.  For 
some,  there  were  special  books  giving  their  history,  but  for 
many  there  only  existed  the  acts  of  their  martyrdom.  To 
enable  the  reader  to  expand  his  ideas  still  further,  it  will  be 
useful  to  know  that  there  existed  special  extensive  compilations 

1 The  prologue  in  Cod.  4 b bears  the  heading  ‘ Praefatio  Gregorii  episcopi 
Turonensis  in  libro  miraculoruni  beati  Andreae  apostoli,’  at  the  close, 
1 Incipit  textus  ipsorum  miraculorum.’ 


APPENDIX 


243 


known  by  the  name  ‘ Passionale,’  containing  the  above  stories. 
The  Cod.  Paris.  Lat.,  12603,  Bonnet’s  4 b,  is  but  a fragment  sur- 
viving from  the  wreck  of  a large  ‘ Passionale,’  for  the  present  first 
folio  bears  an  old  number  ccc  (folio  300  = 600  pages),  and  after 
Gregory’s  De  Miraculis  B.  Andreae  in  the  MS — sequunter  tria  alia 
scripta  de  sanctis — (Bonnet,  ibid.,  p.  823  1.  2)  These  collections 
were  made  use  of  by  the  faithful  as  most  acceptable  narratives  of 
the  Doings  and  Martyrdoms  of  the  Apostles  and  other  Saints  of 
God;  they  were  read  at  their  festivals,  and  by  pious  pilgrims  when 
visiting  their  shrines. 


The  Epilogue  (p.  846). 

Haec  sunt  quae  de  virtutibus  beati  Andreae  apostoli  prae- 
sumpsi  indignus  ore,  sermone  rusticus,  pravus  conscientia, 
propalare,  deprecans  eius  misericordiam,  ut  sicut  in  illius  natale 
processi  ex  matris  utero,  ita  ipsius  obtentu  eruar  ab  inferno,  et 
sicut  in  die  passionis  eius  sumpsi  vitae  hujus  exordium,  ita  me 
sibi  proprium  adscire  dignetur  alumnum.  Et  quia  de  maioribus 
meritis  revocat  nos  pars  magna  facinoris,  hoc  tantum  temerarius 
praesumo  petere,  ut  cum  ille  post  iudicium  dominico  corpori 
conformatus  refulget  in  gloria,  saltern  pro  immensis  criminibus 
mihi  vel  veniam  non  negandam.1 

In  the  prologue  as  well  as  in  the  epilogue,  Gregory  styles 
the  book,  on  which  he  based  this  narrative  of  his,  containing 
a selection  from  the  miracles  attributed  to  the  Apostle,  ‘ De 
virtutibus  beati  Andreae  ’ ; to  his  new  work  he  gives  the  title 
‘ De  Miraculis  beati  Andreae  Apostoli’;  so  the  title  ‘ De  Mira- 
culis ’ is  selected  by  him  to  differentiate  between  the  new  and 
the  older  work.  There  is  a remark  of  Bonnet’s  worth  mentioning 
why  the  author’s  name  does  not  appear  in  all  the  codices  of  this 
work,  but  only  in  one.  In  his  praefatum  {op.  cit.,  p.  821  1.  25  ff.) 
he  says : — 

Ego  ne  codicem  4 b adhibuerim  (to  prove  the  authorship), 
nam  a docto  et  acuto  alique  librario  Gregorii  nomen  e c.  xxxvii. 
erutum,  quam  a reliquis  omnibus  omissum  esse,  credibilius  est. 
Sed  hoc  ipsum  quod  sine  nomine  liber  traditus  est,  maximo  mihi 
argumento  esse  videtur  recte  eum  Gregorio  tribui. 

1 Several  codices  here  mark  the  end  of  the  book ; 4 b closes,  ‘ Finit 
Gregorii  Turonensis  episcopi  liber  de  virtutibus  et  miraculis  beati  Andreae 
apostoli.’ 


244 


APPENDIX 


The  further  argument  is  drawn  from  similarity,  and  the  faulty 
style  of  Gregory’s  Latin.  He  concludes  (p.  822  1.  30)  : — 

Sensibus  quibusdam  non  satis  aptis,  & c.,  non  offendentur, 
qui  reputabunt  talia  inveniri  etiam  in  ceteris  libris  qui  secundis 
et  tertiis  curis  a Gregorio  pertractati  sunt : hunc  properante 
calamo  conscriptum,  sine  nomine  scriptoris  emissum,  minus 
studii  poposcisse. 

Briefly,  the  faulty  nature  of  the  composition  is  to  Bonnet, 
the  editor,  a reason  why  Gregory  allowed  the  book  to  go  forth 
purposely  without  his  name,  though  in  the  writing  he  incidentally 
admits  himself  to  be  the  author,  rather  than  that  all  the  codices 
overlooked  the  title  borne  on  the  front  of  the  writing,  save  one, 
the  codex  4 b.  The  aptitude  of  the  remark  will  be  found  useful 
in  dealing  with  the  next  question. 

18.  St.  Gregory,  probable  Author  of  ‘De  Miraculis 
Beati  Thomae  ’ 

Among  the  Acts  of  Thomas  there  is  a book  also  bearing  a title 
similar  to  the  preceding,  De  Miraculis  Beati  Thomae , as  we 
have  already  seen.  Can  this  compilation  as  well  be  the  work  of 
Gregory  of  Tours  ? 

Bonnet,  who  has  given  a critical  edition  of  the  text, 
informs  us  (Joraef .,  p.  xviii.)  that  for  the  publication  of  the 
edition  he  consulted  four  codices,  besides  Nausea’s  edition  of 
the  text,  and  four  ‘ correctores,’  ranging  in  dates  from  the  ninth 
to  the  thirteenth  century.  Of  these  codices  two  also  contain 
Gregory’s  De  Miraculis  B.  Andreae.  He  argues  from  simi- 
larity of  style,  of  verbal  expressions,  and  of  thought  between 
the  preface  of  De  Mir.  B.  Andr.  given  above,  and  that  found 
at  the  opening  of  De  Mir.  B.  Thomae , for  identity  of  author- 
ship. The  latter  we  here  reproduce  to  enable  a comparison  to 
be  made  with  the  two  former  given  above : — 

Beatum  Thomam  cum  reliquis  discipulis  ad  officium  aposto- 
latus  electum,  ipsumque  a domino  Didimum,  quod  interpretatur 
geminus,  uocitatum  fides  euangelica  narrat,  qui  post  dominicae 
gloriam  ascensionis  Thaddaeum,  unum  ex  septuaginta  discipulis, 
ad  Abgarum  regem  Edissenae  ciuitatis  transmisit,  ut  eum  ab 
infirmitate  curaret  iuxta  uerbum  quod  a domino  scriptum  est. 
Quod  Thaddaeus  ambienter  impleuit,  ita  ut  uniens  imposito  regi 
crucis  signaculo  ab  omni  eum  languore  sanaret. 


APPENDIX 


245 


Thomas  autem  apostolus  Christi  morabatur  in  Hierusalem, 
tunc  diuina  commonitione  iussus  est  Indiam  ingredi,  ut  scilicet 
populo  qui  iacebat  in  tenebris  lumen  ostenderet  ueritatis. 

Nam  legisse  me  memini  quendam  librum  in  quo  iter  eius 
uel  miracula  quae  in  India  gessit  explanabantur.  De  quolibello, 
quia  a quibusdam  non  recipitur,  uerbositate  praetermissa  pauca 
de  miraculis  libuit  memorare,  quod  et  legentibus  gratum  fieret  et 
ecclesiam  roboraret. 

We  will  comment  separately  on  the  sections  of  the  prologue. 
Bonnet,  comparing  it  with  the  previous  extracts  of  De  Mir. 
Andr.,  says  ( Acta  Thom.,  praef.,  p.  xiii. ) : — 

Prorsus  autem  ad  eundem  modulum  liber  de  miraculis  Thomae 
conformatus  est,  eadem  est  sermonis  cum  sermone  Gregoriano, 
eadem  sententiarum  similitudo ; nihil  deest  nisi  disertum  testi- 
monium quale  in  Andrea  superest  ab  ipso  Gregorio  scriptum. 

He  mentions  also  that  the  similarity  of  style  was  suggested 
to  him  by  R.  A.  Lipsius.  After  a close  examination  and  analysis 
of  terms,  phrases,  and  ideas  in  the  book,  he  says,  he  came  to 
think  the  idea  was  almost  his  own,  so  thoroughly  did  he  feel 
convinced  of  the  identity  of  authorship.  It  will  now  be  an  easy 
task,  with  the  help  of  the  copious  lexica  appended  to  Arndt  and 
Krusch’s  critical  edition  of  the  works  of  Gregory,  and  Bonnet’s 
special  work  dealing  with  Le  Latin  de  Grdgoire  de  Tours,  Paris 
1900,  to  further  complete  the  study,  should  any  scholar  feel 
inclined  to  undertake  it. 

In  support  of  the  above  conclusions  of  the  learned  French- 
man, we  invite  the  special  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  title  and 
to  some  additional  remarks  we  propose  to  submit.  In  a previous 
work  we  have  found  Gregory  sorting  out  the  miraculous,  and 
giving  his  compilation  a specialised  title,  ‘ De  Miraculis,’  though 
his  text  bore  the  title  ‘ De  virtutibus.’  So  here,  whatever  text  he 
utilised,  unfortunately  in  this  case  the  name  is  not  given,  he  felt 
bound  to  give  his  book  a title  that  would  differentiate  it  from 
others,  so  he  returns  to  his  former  specialised  title  used  in  the 
case  of  the  Apostle  Andrew,  and  styles  it  ‘ De  Miraculis  B. 
Thomae.’  In  this  case  the  name  is  less  appropriate,  for  while 
the  former  contained  a continuous  narrative  of  successive  wonders 
worked  by  Andrew,  in  this  case  the  miraculous  is  less  prominent; 
but  events  are  given,  and,  above  all,  it  redounds  in  discourses, 
though  largely  curtailed,  as  he  says,  ‘verbositate  praetermissa,’ 
compared  with  the  Greek  version  of  the  Acts. 


246 


APPENDIX 


In  this  second  work  the  omission  of  Gregory’s  name  would 
be  called  for  still  more  imperiously  by  reasons  of  self-regard 
and  prudence,  since  the  style  of  the  writing  is  much  inferior, 
a great  deal  more  rugged,  and  apparently  left  unpolished ; neither 
would  he  for  the  same  reasons  disclose  himself  in  the  text. 

An  additional  point  in  support  of  this  view  is  supplied  by  the 
fact  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Andrew,  whose  Passio  though  known  to 
him  was  left  untouched,  so  in  the  case  of  Thomas,  the  Passio , 
which  was  similarly  known  to  him  (Oper.  Gregor.  Tvron.,  ut  supr., 
in  Gl.  Martyr .,  c.  31,  p.  507):  ‘Thomas  apostolus  secundum 
historiam  passionis  eius  in  Indiam  passus  declarator,’  is  left 
unutilised,  and  a new  work  is  compiled  from  other  writings, 
perhaps  also  in  Latin,  but  now  lost  because,  perhaps,  superseded 
by  this  new  work. 

We  have  yet  to  return  to  the  first  portion  of  the  introduction 
to  the  De  Afir.  B.  Thomae.  There  we  have  evidence  connect- 
ing the  Apostle  Thomas  with  his  colleague  Thaddeus,  whom  he 
sent  to  fulfil  the  promise  given,  or  said  to  be  given,  by  our  Lord 
in  writing  to  King  Abgar,  that  after  His  ascension  he  would  be 
cured  of  his  disease.  This  does  not  imply  that  the  writing  was 
by  our  Lord ; a verbal  message  to  the  messenger  put  down  in 
writing  by  him  would  easily  be  styled  a letter  in  the  East,  or  a 
written  message  might  have  been  given  by  one  of  the  Apostles  on 
behalf  of  their  Master.  The  reader  will  here  recall  to  mind  what  was 
previously  said  bearing  on  this  subject  under  No.  7.  But  it  may  be 
asked,  Whence  did  Gregory  derive  the  information  he  incorporates 
in  his  introduction  ? It  is  not  contained  in  the  Syriac  text  of 
the  Acts  of  Thomas,  nor  in  the  Greek  version,  nor  in  the  Latin 
Passio.  From  whence  could  the  bishop  of  Tours  have  obtained 
it?  The  Syriac  text,  The  Doctrine  of  Addai,  quoted  above,  has 
it ; this  was  never  before  turned  into  Latin,  but  Gregory  was 
precisely  the  person  who  could  have  had  access  to  it.  It  is 
known  that  this  indefatigable  seeker  and  early  compiler  of  the 
acts  of  Martyrs  and  histories  of  Saints  had  left  us  a Latin 
translation  of  the  Story  of  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus. 
Ruinart  had  informed  us  that  it  was  a translation  from  the 
Greek.  But  Bonnet,  who  gives  also  a critical  text  of  this 
‘ Passio  SS.  Martyrum  Septem  Dormientium  apud  Ephesum  ’ 
(Greg.  Tvron.,  oper.,  pp.  848-853),  informs  us  that  the  codex 
ends  with  the  following  clause  : — 

Explicit  Passio  Sanctorum  Martyrium  Septem  Dormientium 


APPENDIX 


247 

apud  Ephesurn,  translata  in  Latinum  per  Gregorium  Episcopum 
interpretante  Johanne  Syro,  quae  observatur  6 kal.  Augusti.1 

This  may  then  be  the  source  whence  the  MS  text  of  the 
Doctrine  of  Addai  also  came  to  be  known  to  Gregory.  However, 
it  is  just  possible  that  Gregory  may  have  read  the  story  in  Rufinus’ 
Latin  translation  of  the  Eusebian  history  of  the  Church. 

It  may,  by  way  of  illustrating  the  above,  be  interesting 
to  know  the  continuous  historical  connection  between  early 
Christianity  in  Gaul  and  the  churches  of  the  East.  Large 
colonies  of  Eastern  Christians  existed  in  Gaul  from  early 
ages  down  to  the  times  of  Gregory  of  Tours.  The  earliest 
mention  will  be  found  in  the  letter  of  the  churches  of  Vienne 
and  Lyons  addressed  to  their  brethren  in  Asia  and  Phrygia,  &c. 
(quoted  by  Eusebius  in  his  Hist.  Ecd.,  lib.  v.  c.  i.,  seq ; see 
Ruinart,  Acta  Sincera  Martyr .,  notes  to  this  letter  ; also  Leclercq, 
Les  Martyrs , tom.  i.  pp.  90  ff.).  The  forty-eight  martyrs  of  Lyons 
suffered  death  c.  177,  probably  a little  earlier.  Gregory  himself 
supplies  two  passages  which  will  disclose  more  intimately  the 
nature  of  this  intercourse  between  Syrian  Christians  and  those  of 
Gaul.  The  first  quotation  is  from  his  Histor.  Fran  cor.  (ed.  ut 
supr.,  pt.  i.  lib.  viii.  c.  i.  p.  326)  : — 

Sed  cum  ad  urbem  Auriliansem  venisset  (rex  Guntchramnus) 
&c.,  processitque  in  obviam  eius  immensa  populi  turba  cum 
signis  atque  vexillis,  canentes  laudes.  Et  hinc  lingua  Syrorum 
hinc  Latinorum,  hinc  etiam  ipsorum  Judaeorum  in  diversis 
laudibus  varie  concrepabat,  dicens  : Vivat  rex  regnumque  eius 
in  populis  annis  innumeris  dilatetur. 

The  second  passage  is  also  from  the  same  history  (lib.  x.  c. 
xxvi.,  p.  488) : — 

Ragnimodus  quoque  Parisiacae  urbis  episcopus  obiit.  Cum- 
que  germanus  eius  Faramodus  presbyter  pro  episcopatu  concur- 
reret,  Eusebius  quidem  negotiator  genere  Syrus,  datis  multis 
muneribus  in  locum  eius  subrogatus  est ; hisque,  accepto  episco- 
pate, omnem  scolam  decessoris  sui  abiciens,  Syros  de  genere  suo 
ecclesiasticae  domui  ministros  statuit. 

This  last  quotation  also  shows  that  true  Syrians  bore  Greek 
names  ; or,  may  be,  living  away  from  their  own  country,  adopted 
Greek  equivalents  of  their  names,  for  the  knowledge  of  Greek 
was  very  general,  then  and  before,  throughout  the  East. 

1 A reference  to  in  Glor.  Martyr.,  of  the  same  edition,  c.  xciv.,  shows 
that  the  new  text  reads  : Quod  passio  eorum  quam  Syro  interpretante  in 
latinum  transtulimus,  plenius  pandit. 


248 


APPENDIX 


SECTION  III 

The  Acts  of  Thomas  Discussed 
19.  Introduction 

The  discussion  of  preliminary  questions  being  closed,  we 
take  up  the  contents  of  our  Acts  for  examination.  The  English 
translation  of  the  Syriac  text  by  Dr.  Wright  will  be  utilised,  and 
whenever  text  is  referred  to  in  the  sequel  without  qualification 
the  reference  is  to  this  translation. 

Neither  the  text  nor  .the  Greek  version  has  a preface,  and  the 
Latin  Passio  follows  them  ; the  reason  why  the  Latin  De  Mir. 
has  one  has  been  explained.  The  introduction  in  the  text  and 
Greek  version  referring  to  the  departure  and  the  arrival  of  the 
Apostle  appear  identical.  The  De  Mir.  varies  the  narrative  by 
making  Thomas  start  from  Palestine — Jerusalem  is  mentioned; 
the  Latin  Passio  makes  Caesarea  the  scene  of  preliminary  nego- 
tiations. The  introduction  recites  that  our  Lord  admonished 
Thomas  that  he  should  go  to  India ; he  is  disinclined  to  accept 
the  mission.  Our  Lord  is  then  said  to  have  sold  him  to  Habban, 
a messenger  or  agent  of  the  Indian  king,  Gudnaphar  in  the  text, 
TovvSacfiopos  and  Gondophares  in  the  versions,  who  had  come 
to  seek  and  engage  the  services  of  a qualified  builder ; they  take 
ship  and  sail,  and  arrive  after  a rapid  passage. 

The  text,  which  throughout  names  Thomas  the  Apostle  Judas 
Thomas,  makes  the  start  from  the  ‘ south  country  ’ ; this  implies 
a Babylonian  writer,  or  one  from  the  Euphrates  valley.  The 
Syriac  MS  of  the  text  here  drops  a name  unfortunately,  which 
so  far  has  not  been  supplied  by  the  more  recent  Syrian  copies 
imported  from  the  East ; but  it  can  perhaps  be  supplied  from 
Jacob  of  Sarug’s  poem  (a.d.  500-521)  on  the  ‘Palace  the 
Apostle  built  in  India.’  In  the  poem1  Mahuza  is  mentioned 
in  connection  with  merchants,  but  Schroter  is  unable  to  decide 
whether  the  start  was  from  Mahuza,  or  whether  only  the  mer- 
chants came  from  there.  Assemani,  as  will  be  seen  presently, 
decides  that  point.  This  may  possibly  be  the  name  that  has 
dropped  out  of  the  British  Museum  Codex  of  the  Acts.  As  to 

1 See  R.  Schroter’s  two  papers  in  Zeitschrift  der  Deutschen  Morgenland- 
ischen  Gesellschaft,  vols.  xxv.  and  xxviii.  ; vol.  xxv.,  p.  349,  verse  20. 


APPENDIX  249 

Mahuza,  Assemani  (Bibl.  Or.,  i.,  pp.  332  f.)  has  the  following 
comment  on  this  passage  of  the  poem  : — 

Alter  sermo  sub  nomine  Jacobi  inscribitur  de  ‘ Palatio 
quod  Thomas  Apostolus  in  excelsis  aedificavit.’  Indiarum  rex 
quum  magnificas  sibi  aedes  excitari  cuperet,  peritumque  ad  id 
opus  artificem  undequaque  conquireret,  Thomam  Apostolum  ab 
Haban  quodam  mercatore  ex  Mahuza  Mesopotamiae  regione, 
tanquam  servum  illuc  adductum  mercede  conduxit. 

If  Assemani  is  right  in  his  reading  of  the  poem,  of  which 
there  will  probably  be  little  doubt,  ‘ Mahuza  ’ would  be  the 
missing  word  and  would  fit  our  text,  which  reads  at  present,  ‘ a 
certain  merchant,  an  Indian,  happened  to  come  into  the  south 
country  from  — — . whose  name  was  Habban.’ 

Schroter  first  edited  a text  of  the  poem  from  a British 
Museum  Codex  ; later,  he  consulted  two  Vatican  codices  (see  pp. 
584-626,  vol.  xxviiii.  of  above  publication).  The  Vatican  Syriac 
Codex  1 17  agrees  generally  with  the  British  Museum  text;  but 
Vatican  Codex  118  contains  a much  longer  poem — Schroter 
considers  this  to  be  the  original  form  of  the  poem — while  the  text 
has  been  shortened  in  Codex  117,  and  in  the  British  Museum  MS. 
Vatican  Codex  118  gives  a fuller  introduction  than  either  of  the 
other  MSS.  It  opens  thus  : ‘ The  tale  of  the  Apostle  Thomas  is 
a sea  unspeakably  vast.  Permit  me,  O Lord,  to  dive  into  this 
sea  and  to  bring  up  from  its  depths  the  pearl  Thomas  has  stolen 
from  thy  side.  He  who  steals  from  the  thief  is  sure  of  success. 
He  stole  being  worthy,  permit  me  to  steal  though  unworthy,’  &c. 
The  poem  deals  with  the  I.  and  II.  Acts  of  the  text,  viz.,  the  inci- 
dents of  the  bridal  feast,  and  of  the  building  of  the  palace. 
But  it  nowhere  mentions  the  name  of  Gondophares,  though  his 
brother’s  name,  Gad,  is  mentioned  ; the  former  is  always  styled 
simply  the  king. 

20.  Thomas’s  First  Mission 

A word  or  two  more  has  to  be  said  on  the  contents  of  the 
introduction.  The  text,  after  giving  the  names  of  the  eleven 
Apostles  (the  Greek  version  repeats  the  same,  but  both  Latin 
versions  omit  them)  and  saying  that  the  world  was  divided  among 
them,  each  having  a country  assigned  to  him,  continues:  ‘And 
India  fell  by  lot  and  division  to  Judas  Thomas  (or  the  Twin)  the 
Apostle  ; and  he  was  not  willing  to  go ; ’ no  further  mention  is 
made  of  the  other  Apostles.  Now  the  oldest  record  of  the  divi- 


250 


APPENDIX 


sion  of  the  world  among  the  Apostles  assigns  Parthia  to  Thomas. 
This  was  stated  by  Origen  (a.d.  200-254)  in  his  Commentary  on 
Genesis,  now  lost,  but  the  passage  has  been  recovered  for  us  by 
Eusebius  who,  before  a.d.  337,  incorporated  it  in  his  Hist.  Eccl., 
lib.  iii.  c.  i.  : — 

Apostoli  et  discipuli  Domini  ac  Servatoris  nostri  per  uni- 
versum  orbem  dispersi  Evangelium  praedicabant.  Et  Thomas 
quidem,  ut  a majoribus  traditum  accepimus,  Parthiam  sortitus  est. 

The  same  is  repeated  by  other  authorities.  The  statement, 
therefore,  that  India  fell  to  Thomas’s  lot  when  the  Apostles  first 
assigned  to  themselves  the  countries  they  would  evangelise, 
cannot  be  accepted.  We  feel  bound  to  reject  it  as  part  of  the 
work  of  one  of  the  several  hands  that  manipulated  the  text. 

The  Latin  De  Mir.,  probably  Gregory’s  work  as  has  been 
seen,  says  nothing  of  the  first  division,  but  opens  the  story  : — 

Cum  saepe  a Domino  commoneretur  beatus  Thomas  ut  partes 
citerioris  Indiae  uisitaret,  et  ille  quasi  Jonas  a facie  Domini 
fugiens  ire  differret,  &c. 

The  older  Latin  Passio  also  commences  with  our  Lord’s 
admonition  to  Thomas,  that  he  wishes  him  to  go  to  India  with 
Habban,  the  messenger  of  King  Gondophares  of  India. 

It  becomes  clear  on  reflection  that  the  opposition  of  Thomas 
to  go  to  India  did  not  arise  on  the  first  dispersion  of  the 
Apostles.  When  might  it  have  arisen  ? It  could  only  have 
been  years  later,  after  Thomas’s  first  mission  to  the  Parthians 
and  neighbouring  nations  was  fulfilled.  It  would  thus  have 
occurred  on  his  second  Apostolic  tour.  The  reader  is  here 
referred  to  Chapter  IV.  of  the  book  for  additional  information 
on  this  point. 

Besides,  it  can  by  no  means  be  accepted  that  our  Lord  was 
forced  by  Thomas’s  conduct  to  sell  him  as  a slave  to  Habban. 
Such  a thing,  on  the  face  of  it,  is  inadmissible.  This  and  the 
journey  from  the  ‘south  country’  by  ship  must  be  ascribed 
to  facts  inaccurately  reported  to  the  original  writer,  or  to  a 
subsequent  compiler  of  the  present  form  of  the  narrative.  The 
same  should  be  held  in  regard  to  the  mixing  up  of  King  Gondo- 
phares’ name  with  the  building  of  the  palace.  For  the  rejection 
of  this  latter  point  sufficient  grounds  will  be  produced  in  the 
sequel. 


APPENDIX 


251 


21.  Story  of  the  Dream-Vision 

But  it  is  possible,  nay  probable — under  the  circumstances  of 
the  case— considering  the  obstinate  and  self-opinionated  char- 
acter the  Apostle  displayed  during  his  apprenticeship  in  the 
apostolic  school,  and  specially  at  the  last  stage,  that  he  may 
have  objected  to  proceed  to  India. 

His  objection,  it  may  be  incidentally  observed,  would  be 
grounded  on  some  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  he  would  have 
to  meet  in  this  future  field  of  labour.  ‘ Whithersoever  Thou 
wilt,  O Lord,'  he  says,  ‘ send  me  ; only  to  India  I will  not  go.’ 
All  barbarous  nations  must  have  stood  much  on  the  same  level 
to  the  Jew  of  Palestine.  May  not  this  special  objection  to 
proceed  to  India  be  based  on  what  Thomas  had  learnt  regarding 
India  proper  when,  during  his  first  mission,  he  visited  the  country 
over  which  Gondophares  ruled  ? 

The  conduct  of  Thomas  brings  us  to  the  vision-admonitions 
he  received  of  his  future  destination  to  India.1  Intimations  of 
the  Divine  will  were  received  by  Peter  in  a similar  manner. 
The  visions  of  Thomas  disclosed  to  him  that  he  was  to  erect  a 
palatial  building  in  India,  and  that  his  work  would  redound  to 
the  honour  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls. 

When  Peter  was  similarly  to  undertake  a new  sphere  of  work, 
quite  different  from  what  his  own  national  ideas  would  have 
suggested,  he  had  a vision  just  before  the  messenger  sent  by  the 
centurion  Cornelius  knocked  at  the  door  and  reported  his  object. 
It  was  only  then  that  Peter  caught  the  meaning  of  the  dream- 
vision  he  had  just  had  (read  Acts  chap.  x.  from  1 to  23  verse; 
and  verses  26  to  43,  as  also  44  to  48).  If  close  attention  is 
again  paid  to  what  is  written  of  Peter  (Acts  xii.  9-1 1)  on  his 
delivery  from  prison  at  Jerusalem,  ‘And  going  out  he  followed 
him  (the  angel),  and  he  knew  not  that  it  was  true  which  was 
done  by  the  angel,  but  thought  he  saw  a vision  ; ’ and  again, 

‘ Peter  coming  to  himself  said,  Now  I know  in  very  deed  that 
the  Lord  hath  sent  His  angel,’  &c.,  it  must  strike  the  reader  that 
Peter  had  become  so  accustomed  to  communications  through 
such  a channel  that  it  took  him  some  time  to  realise  that  what 
had  passed  was  a reality  and  not  a dream-vision.  The  Scrip- 
tural incident  is  here  introduced  to  point  to  the  line  adopted  by 

1 See  text,  pp.  146-47,  last  and  first  line,  and  De  Mir , p.  97  1.  5 f. 


252 


APPENDIX 


Divine  Providence  in  communicating  its  will  even  to  the  chosen 
leader  of  the  Twelve. 

The  book  mentioned  above  written  by  St.  Gregory  of  Tours, 
De  Miraculis  B.  Andreae,  offers  two  similar  instances  in  the  case 
of  that  Apostle.  In  a night-vision  (c.  xx.  p.  837,  op.  cii.)  which 
the  Apostle  had,  mentioned  therein,  it  is  said  that  Peter  and 
John  intervened;  the  latter  said  to  Andrew,  ‘Andreas  poculum 
Petri  bibiturus  es.’  Next  morning  Andrew  informed  his  disciples 
of  his  passion  and  death  now  imminent ; he  prayed  for  them  and 
took  leave  of  them.  Again  in  cap.  xxii.-xxiii.,  p.  838,  the  fol- 
lowing occurrence  is  narrated  : — ■ 

Duodecimo  die  Patras  Achaiae  civitatem  adpulsi  sunt,  &c., 
cum  earn  multi  rogarent,  ut  in  domibus  eorum  ingrederetur, 
dixit  (Andreas)  vivit  Dominus  quia  non  vadam  nisi  quo  praece- 
perit  Deus  meus.  Et  nocte  dormiens  nihil  revelationis  accepit. 
Altera  vero  nocte,  cum  esset  ex  hoc  tristis,  audivit  vocem 
dicentem  sibi,  Andreas  ego  semper  tecum  sum  et  non  te 
derelinquo,  &c. 

This  also,  although  of  far  lesser  weight  than  the  quotation 
in  Peter’s  case,  will  go  somewhat  to  confirm  what  has  been  said. 
Such  intimation,  when  given,  required  of  course  active  co-operation, 
but  left  the  will  a free  agent  to  acquire  merit  by  following  up 
the  suggestion  made,  or  the  command  conveyed.  In  such  cases 
what  is  true  of  one  Apostle  would  be  true  also  in  the  case  of 
another.  This  appears  to  be  the  one  rational  explanation  to 
give  of  the  message  to  Thomas  that  he  was  required,  under  the 
image  of  a stately  palace  which  he  was  to  build,  to  establish  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  the  souls  and  among  the  people  of  India. 

With  the  rejection  of  the  story  that  Thomas  was  sold  as  a slave 
by  Christ,  the  whole  of  the  introduction  and  the  journey  by  sea 
from  the  ‘south  country’  entirely  collapse,  the  vision-admonition 
alone  surviving.  As  the  Acts  of  Thomas  do  not  embrace  his 
whole  apostolic  career  but  deal  only  with  some  incidents  of  his 
mission  to  India,  the  vision  story  had  naturally  to  precede  this 
narrative.  The  bungling  and  the  addition  of  inaccurate  and 
erroneous  statements  can  thus  be  also  explained  in  part.  The 
contact  of  the  Apostle  with  King  Gondophares  must  remain 
based  on  its  own  historical  grounds,  but  its  place  belongs  to 
the  omitted  portion  of  the  Apostle’s  history  concerning  his 
mission  to  the  Parthians,  of  which  unfortunately  no  details  have 
survived.  It  was  during  that  Apostolic  tom*  that  Thomas  had 


APPENDIX 


253 


the  easiest  opportunity  of  entering  the  kingdom  of  Gondophares, 
and  it  probably  formed  part,  or  was  an  offshoot,  of  the  great 
Parthian  domination  which  overshadowed  the  whole  of  Central 
Asia  during  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  A trace  of 
this  journey  of  the  Apostle  survives  in  the  Acta  Maris , from 
which  a quotation  has  been  given  in  Chapter  II.,  pp.  36-37. 

Though  we  reject  the  introduction  as  having  any  historical 
basis,  its  origin  is  susceptible  of  some  explanation.  It  may  be 
based  on  a traveller’s  report,  who,  when  asked  how  Thomas 
got  to  India,  may  have  suggested  the  incident,  basing  it  on 
his  knowledge  of  the  vision-admonition,  and  of  Thomas’s  re- 
luctance to  proceed  to  India ; all  this  he  might  also  have  heard. 
The  thought  of  the  ‘south  country’  would  naturally  arise  from 
personal  experience,  as  the  traveller  would  have  made  the 
journey  thence  to  India  by  sea.  Any  narrative,  besides,  must 
have  a suitable  introduction,  and  if  the  original  be  lost,  another 
is  usually  found  substituted  by  Orientals.  This  has  occurred,  as 
a matter  of  fact,  to  the  narrative  of  the  Arab  travellers  of  the  ninth 
century,  published  by  Reinaud.  A bare  narrative  concerning  a 
stranger  to  India  and  of  his  doings  there  could  not  well  be  put 
forward  without  introducing  him  to  the  country.  The  events 
that  follow  would  be  related  orally,  but  the  prologue,  for  want 
of  correct  information,  was  devised  to  answer  the  purposes  of 
an  introduction. 


22.  Syriac  Text  often  Altered 

The  doctrinal  development  given  to  the  Acts  is  probably 
not  the  work  of  one  hand,  but  rather  of  three  successive  revisers. 
A comparison  with  the  Acta  Theclae  will  show  how  the  first 
interpolator  was  careful  to  follow  closely  on  the  lines  of  his 
predecessor  in  similar  work,  and  he  probably  limited  his  work 
to  a few  aptly  inserted  passages.  The  comparison  of  the  two  texts 
which  we  give  in  No.  29  will  show  similar  passages  yet  retained  in 
the  story.  But  these  have  been  followed  up  by  set  speeches  and 
much  additional  doctrinal  matter  quite  irrelevant  to  the  subject 
and  circumstances  treated.  In  more  than  one  place  there  are  as 
many  as  three  speeches  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  Apostle  or 
other  person,  very  often  two  ; these  may  fairly  be  taken  to  be 
the  work  of  successive  hands,  who  have  endeavoured  to  embellish 
or  strengthen  the  narrative  with  their  own  thoughts.  Our 


254 


APPENDIX 


Western  readers  most  probably  are  unaware  that  a Syrian  tran- 
scriber, if  at  all  educated,  considers  himself  fully  entitled  to 
enlarge  the  subject  he  is  copying  wherever  it  suits  his  taste,  ‘ de 
suo  cumulans,’  to  adopt  Tertullian’s  phrase. 

From  the  high  praise  bestowed  on  the  composition  of  the 
present  Syriac  text  by  Professor  Burkitt  for  its  literary  excellence, 
it  would  be  fair  to  conclude  that  the  final  polish  must  have  been 
given  while  the  Syriac  language  was  yet  in  its  best  age ; this 
would  bring  us  to  the  fourth  century,  and  from  the  connotating 
name,  Mygdonia,  given  to  the  most  prominent  female  character 
in  the  story,  we  may  further  infer  that  the  work,  at  least  of  final 
revision,  was  done  in  the  vicinity  of  Edessa,  Mygdonia  represent- 
ing the  Seleucian  form  of  the  name  of  the  district  in  which 
Edessa  was  situated.  M.  Duval  (Litt.  Syr.,  ut  supra,  p.  too) 
says  that  Noeldeke  holds  that  the  Acts  were  written  at  Edessa 
by  the  school  of  Bardaisan.  Find  quotation  from  St.  Ephraem 
bearing  on  the  subject  at  the  end  of  No.  28. 

We  add  the  following  historical  data  in  support  of  the  former 
statement. 

The  name  Edessa,  borne  by  the  ancient  town  of  Mesopotamia 
(known  to  the  Aramsei  as  Orrhai,  to  the  then  Arabs  as  or-Roha, 
now  as  Urpha  or  Or/a),  was  given  to  it  by  Seleucus  Nicator, 
b.c.  303,  when  he  rebuilt  the  city  in  remembrance  of  the  ancient 
capital  of  Macedonia.  This  latter  name  they  pronounced 
Mygdonia,  hence  the  district  in  which  Edessa  was  situated  was 
called  Mygdonia.  See  article  1 Edesse,’  in  La  Grande  Encyclopedic, 
Paris,  1892,  tom.  xv.  pp.  552-53;  and  Rubens  Duval,  Histoire 
politique,  religieuse,  et  litteraire  d’ Edesse,  Paris  1892,  ch.  ii.  pp. 
22-23.  The  district  was  called  also  Osrhoe,  and  Osrhoena  by 
Greek  and  Latin  writers.  Edessa,  once  the  capital,  remained 
the  chief  town  of  the  whole  province  under  the  Romans — and 
Nisibis  the  next  important  city — till  Constantins  in  349  divided 
it  into  two ; Amida,  which  he  rebuilt,  becoming  the  capital  of  the 
second  province.  But  proof  is  forthcoming  that  the  province 
of  Edessa,  even  after  this,  continued  to  retain  the  name  of 
Mygdonia 1 : ‘ Urbs  autem  Nisibis,  quae  eadem  est  Antiochia 
Mygdoniae,  et  ab  hortis  et  pomariis  quae  ibi  sunt  nomen  ducit.’ 

1 Chronica  Minora , of  Scriptores  Syri,  series  3 a,  tom.  iv.,  Paris,  1903, 
2nd  Chron.  parvum,  p.  17,  1.  18  seq. — ‘Corpus  Scriptor.  Christianor. 
Orientalium.’ 


APPENDIX 


255 


23.  Acts  Dramatised — Act  I 

‘Act  I.  Judas  Thomas  the  Apostle,  when  [Our  Lord]  sold 
him  to  the  merchant  Habban  that  he  might  go  down  and  con- 
vert India.’ 

It  includes  the  introduction  already  dealt  with.  The  story 
then  proceeds  to  what  occurred  on  the  landing  at  Sandaruk  (or 
Sanadruk),  the  Greek  has  Andrapolis  instead  ; both  Latin  versions 
omit  the  name.  Gutschmidt  thought  he  found  here  an  allusion 
to  the  Andhra  race.  This  race,  according  to  Caldwell,  formed 
the  western  branch  of  the  Telegu  race,  but  between  it  and  the  sea 
lay  the  Konkani  on  the  western  shores  of  India  (see  the  excellent 
map  of  ancient  India  by  Reinaud,  Memoire  snr  I’lnde).  The 
change  of  Sandaruk  into  Ax'SpairoXis,  Andrapolis,  comes  about 
by  dropping  the  sibilant  letter  and  adding  the  termination  71-oAis. 
But  the  town  referred  to  in  the  text  ought  not  to  be  in  India,  for 
in  two  succeeding  passages  we  are  led  to  know  that  it  was  later 
the  Apostle  entered  ‘in  the  realm  of  India’:  the  passages  are 
at  the  close  of  this  and  the  beginning  of  the  next  Act.  The 
poem  of  Jacob  of  Sarug,  which,  as  we  said,  incorporates  the 
first  two  Acts  of  the  story,  also  supports  the  interpretation  that 
the  wedding  feast  which  comes  after  the  landing  occurred  before 
the  Apostle  had  entered  India,  based  no  doubt  on  the  Acts. 

If  the  reader  follows  us,  we  can,  perhaps,  place  a different 
construction  on  the  whole  of  the  narrative  given  at  the  Apostle’s 
first  landing.  Above  we  pointed  out,  No.  21,  that  the  Introduction 
and  the  sea  voyage  from  the  ‘ south  country  ’ should  be  rejected 
as  inaccurate.  The  Apostle  on  this,  his  second  mission,  would 
be  approaching  India  from  the  island  of  Socotra  and  not  from 
the  ‘ south  country  ’ (the  estuary  of  the  Euphrates),  he  would 
then  land  on  the  western  shores  of  India.  Hence  the  contents 
of  Act.  I.,  whatever  the  present  form  of  the  text  may  say,  should 
refer  to  India,  as  well  as  those  of  Act  II. 

The  narrative  recites  that  on  arrival  the  townspeople  were 
found  keeping  the  bridal  of  the  King’s  daughter ; the  new- 
comers were  made  to  take  part  in  the  rejoicings,  and  a Hebrew 
flute  girl  is  brought  on  the  scene.  She  attracts  Thomas’s  attention, 
and  she  makes  the  discovery  of  a countryman  in  him.  An 
attendant  at  the  feast  strikes  Thomas,  and  he  foretells  his 
imminent  punishment : the  man,  who  is  a cup-bearer,  is  killed 


APPENDIX 


256 

by  a wild  beast — a lion(?)  prowling  in  the  neighbourhood — 
when  he  went  to  fetch  water ; dogs  tore  the  body  to  pieces,  and 
one  of  these  brought  into  the  banquet  place  the  right  arm  which 
had  struck  the  Apostle.  All  were  amazed  at  the  occurrence  : the 
king  urged  Thomas  to  come  in  to  the  bridal  chamber  and  bless 
the  new  couple.  The  opportunity  is  here  promptly  seized  to 
insert  the  first  dose  of  Gnostic  poison  into  the  tale.  The  young 
couple  in  the  sequel  vow  chastity ; on  hearing  this,  the  king  is 
indignant,  and  orders  Thomas  ‘ the  sorcerer  ’ to  be  arrested,  &c. 

The  story  of  the  cup-bearer  and  Thomas’s  part  in  the  same 
is  commented  upon  by  St.  Augustine  in  three  passages  of  his 
writings.1  We  have  these  passages  before  us,  and  from  their 
perusal  it  appears  that  the  Manichaean  version  of  the  event 
agrees  with  what  the  text  offers.  The  great  Doctor  of  the 
Church  considers  the  part  attributed  to  the  Apostle  unbecoming 
and  savouring  of  revenge ; we  may  therefore  dismiss  the  detail  in 
the  form  it  is  presented  by  the  text.  But  suppose  the  Apostle, 
when  smitten  on  the  cheek,  in  place  of  resenting  it  with  a tinge  of 
revenge,  offered  the  other  meekly  to  his  assailant,  not  forgetful 
of  his  Master’s  counsel,  would  this  not  as  well  have  promoted 
a general  movement  in  his  favour  among  the  assembly?  As 
the  wedding  incident  might  be  true,  the  more  so  as  the  text 
says  that  at  a subsequent  stage  the  young  converts  joined  the 
Apostle  in  his  field  of  labour  in  India,  and  since  it  would 
not  have  occurred,  according  to  the  present  form  of  the  text, 
at  any  great  distance  from  Mesopotamia  where  the  writing  to 
all  appearances  originated,  there  is  a greater  probability  it  was 
not  a pure  fiction.  This  Act  closes  with  the  statement  that 
Thomas  had  left,  and  ‘ news  was  heard  of  his  being  in  the  realm 
of  India.’  The  Latin  De  Mir.  confirms  the  narrative  and  the 
latter  statement ; yet  most  inconsistently  says  at  the  opening  of 
that  narrative,  ‘ Exeuntes  de  navi  ingressi  sunt  primam  Indiae 
civitatem,’  &c.  According  to  what  has  been  shown  above,  the 
account  of  the  bridal  should  belong  to  India. 

1 These  are  (i.)  St.  Augustine  Opera  omnia,  edit.  Benedict.  Venetiis,  1730, 
tom.  iii.,  pars  ii.  col.  194,  De  Sermone  Domini  in  monte  secundum  Mattheum , 
lib.  i.  c.  xx.  n.  65  ; (ii.)  tom.  viii. , ejusd.  edit.,  Contra  Adimantum  Manichaei 
discipulum,  c.  xviii.  n.  2 ; and  (iii.)  tom.  viii.  Contra  Faustum,  lib.  xxii. 
c.  lxxix.  col.  409. 


APPENDIX 


257 


24.  Thomas’s  Second  Mission  Discussed — Acts  II.,  III., 
IV.,  V.,  VI.,  VII 

‘Act  II.  When  Thomas  the  Apostle  entered  into  India  and 
built  a palace  for  the  King  in  Heaven.’ 

We  are  inclined  to  accept  the  story  of  the  palace  building  as 
true,  not  because  the  Acts  contain  it,  but  because  St.  Ephraem 
accepts  it,  and  Jacob  of  Sarug  writes  of  it,  entering  into  details ; 
it  must  therefore  have  had  ecclesiastical  tradition  to  support  it. 
It  may  interest  the  reader  to  read  the  imaginative  description  of 
the  plan,  traced  for  the  Apostle  by  Jacob,  on  the  ground  selected 
for  its  erection. 

Thomas  accompanied  the  king  to  the  place  assigned  for  the 
building. 

‘ He  measured  with  the  measuring  rod  and  left  place  for 
windows  to  give  light  and  for  windows  to  let  the  wind  pass;  he 
measured  the  rooms  for  summer  and  the  chambers  for  winter  ; 
the  house  for  the  bakers  [he  traced  out]  towards  the  sun  (south) 
and  the  spot  for  the  reservoir  of  water.  He  marked  out  the 
place  where  the  artificers  of  the  royal  palace  should  dwell,  and 
the  halls  in  which  the  weavers,  the  coiners  in  gold,  and  the 
silversmiths  should  carry  on  their  trade.  He  measured  off  the 
house  for  the  smiths  and  the  house  for  carvers  in  wood,  and  the 
house  for  painters,  and  the  stables  for  the  horses  and  the  mules. 
He  measured  the  strong-room  for  the  treasury,  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  building  plot  on  account  of  the  danger  to  which  it 
is  exposed,  leaving  but  few  window  openings  for  light  and  making 
them  small.’  (From  Vatican  Codex  118.  ‘ He  measured  thus 

upon  earth  in  order  to  show  his  art,  whilst  he  knew  the  Lord  on 
high  would  lay  the  foundations  of  the  palace.’)  ‘ The  king  saw 
all  this  and  rejoiced.’ 

Wrhile  we  accept  the  story  of  the  palace  building,  to  our 
way  of  thinking  the  event  could  not  have  occurred  at  the  court  of 
King  Gondophares  in  northern  India,  but  elsewhere  in  India. 
And  why  ? Because  it  could  only  have  happened  after  the 
vision-dreams,  and  not  before  : and  these  latter,  for  the  reason 
assigned  above,  would  not  belong  to  the  first  period  of  Thomas’s 
apostolate- — which  was  to  Parthia  and  the  surrounding  countries 
of  Asia — as  tradition  handed  down  by  Origen  and  Eusebius 
demands  (see  No.  20),  supported  as  it  is  by  the  general  tradition 

R 


APPENDIX 


258 

of  the  East  recorded  in  Chapter  IV.,  p.  145.  The  tale,  or  the 
figurative  incident  of  the  building  of  the  palace  in  India,  falls 
necessarily  during  the  second  period  of  his  mission,  when,  after 
passing  through  Ethiopia  and  Socotra,  he  landed  on  the  shores 
of  India  according  to  the  tradition  shown  in  Chapter  IV.,  pp. 
I35_I4°- 

The  reader  should  be  prepared  for  dislocations  in  the  story 
owing  to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  original  facts  were 
obtained,  as  he  has  been  warned  in  our  preliminary  remarks ; hence 
owing  to  the  above  incident  being  wrongly  placed,  it  becomes 
impossible  to  locate  the  part  of  India  to  which  the  proposal  to 
erect  the  building  belongs.  If  the  tenor  of  the  narrative  be  any 
guide  it  would  be  in  the  second  country  visited  by  the  Apostle. 
But  we  are  on  safer  ground  when  we  say  that  the  sea  voyage  from 
Socotra  would  land  the  Apostle  on  the  west  coast  of  India,  and 
would  not  take  him  to  the  borderland  of  Afghanistan,  Gandhara. 

‘Act  III.  Regarding  the  black  snake.’  The  Greek  has  the 
story,  but  neither  Latin  version  contains  it. 

‘Act  IV.  The  ass  that  spake.’  The  Greek  of  this  story  was 
for  the  first  time  published  by  Bonnet ; both  Latin  versions  omit 
it.  Both  these  incidents  are  not  only  fabulous  but  even  ridicu- 
lous, and  probably  obtained  the  favour  of  insertion  for  love  of 
the  marvellous  which  has  quite  an  attraction  of  its  own  for  the 
ignorant. 

It  is  as  well  to  take  note  of  the  peculiar  introduction  to  Act 
III.  of  the  text:  ‘And  the  Apostle  went  forth  to  go  whither  our 
Lord  had  told  him.’  The  Passio,  which,  from  what  St.  Gregory 
tells  us,  is  the  older  of  the  two  Latin  Acts,  after  giving  the  tale  of 
the  palace,  mentions  that  the  fame  of  the  miraculous  cures 
worked  by  the  Apostle  had  gone  forth  (p.  143):  ‘Cum  exiisset 
fama  apostoli  per  Indos  quod  esset  in  provincia  eorum,’  &c.,  of  his 
preaching  to  large  gatherings  of  people,  besides  healing  the  sick 
and  baptizing  many;  it  adds  (p.  147):  ‘Profectus  est  autem  apos- 
tolus ad  Indiam  superiorem  per  revelationem.’  The  text  and 
Passio  retain  here  clearly  a detail  of  the  ancient  text,  they  are  in 
fact  insertions  which  no  interpolator  is  likely  to  have  made  in 
such  odd  form.  The  Latin  expression  ‘superior,’  used  above,  is 
susceptible  of  various  meanings,  and  can  equally  be  applied 
whether  the  Apostle  proceeded  further  to  the  north,  or  to  the 
south,  or  to  the  east ; it  is  a generic  form  of  expression,  therefore 
inconclusive  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  direction  taken.  But 


APPENDIX 


259 


the  recital  in  the  text,  first  given,  is  somewhat  more  definite — 
‘ whither  our  Lord  told  him.’  This  further  corroborates  the  idea 
that  up  till  then  Thomas  had  not  entered  that  particular  section 
of  India  to  which  by  revelation  he  had  been  directed  to  proceed. 

‘Act  V.  The  demon  that  dwelt  in  the  woman.’  The  Greek 
has  it,  as  also  the  De  Mir.  It  recites  the  cure  or  delivery  of 
a woman  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit.  Casting  aside  the  fictitious 
incidents  given  in  the  tale,  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  it  may 
have  occurred. 

‘Act  VI.  The  young  man  who  killed  the  girl.’  The  Greek 
has  it  as  well  as  the  De  Mir.  The  substance  of  the  story  told  con- 
sists of  this  : — The  Apostle  received  or  asked  for  bread  to  be 
brought  to  him,  for  the  poor ; this  he  blessed  and  distributed  to 
the  people.  There  was  a young  man  in  the  crowd  who  also 
came  forward  to  have  his  share  ; something  then  happened  which 
drew  the  Apostle’s  attention  to  him — possibly  because  of  the  crime 
he  had  committed,  to  be  presently  disclosed.  It  may  be,  as  the 
text  says,- he  was  unable  to  reach  the  blessed  bread  to  his  mouth, 
or  he  may  have  been  seized  with  sudden  illness  when  attempting 
to  eat  of  it.  The  Eucharist  is  here  needlessly  introduced  by 
the  Gnostic  hand : it  could  never  have  been  indiscriminately 
given,  though  bread  blessed  after  a celebration  was  distributed 
to  the  people— a custom  yet  surviving  in  most  of  the  Oriental 
rites  and  retained  also  by  the  Greek ; or  it  might  have 
been  ordinary  bread.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  Apostle 
asked  the  young  man  under  what  weight  of  sin  he  lay,  and 
this  led  to  the  disclosure  of  his  crime.  He  acknowledged  he 
had  killed  the  woman  with  ‘ whom  he  had  lived,’  clearly  not 
his  wife.  In  self-justification,  he  added,  he  had  heard  the 
Apostle  teach  that  no  adulterer  could  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  since  she  would  not  live  a clean  life  with  him,  he 
had  committed  the  deed.  The  circumstances,  however,  imply 
that  he  took  her  life  through  a motive  of  jealousy.  The  narra- 
tive tells  us  the  Apostle  went  to  the  place  where  the  woman  was 
lying,  and  raised  her  to  life.  The  opportunity  was  too  good  to 
be  left  unutilised  by  the  Gnostic  scribe  for  his  purpose.  The 
people  are  struck  with  admiration  and  wonder ; multitudes 
believe,  the  report  goes  abroad,  and  from  villages  and  the 
country  ‘the  sick,  those  under  possession  by  a spirit,  lunatics 
and  paralytics,  are  brought  and  placed  by  the  roadside  : and  the 
Apostle  went  healing  them  all  by  the  power  of  Jesus.’ 


26o 


APPENDIX 


‘Act  VII.  How  Judas  Thomas  was  called  by  the  General  of 
King  Mazdai  to  heal  his  wife  and  daughter.’  The  Greek  version 
of  this  Act  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  book  was  published  for  the 
first  time  by  Max  Bonnet.  The  De  Mir.  has  it  and  the  rest  of 
the  story  on  the  lines  of  the  text.  The  Passio  omits  it  altogether 
and  passes  to  describe  w'hat  is  given  in  the  following  Act. 

We  hold  Act  VII.  to  be  substantially  historical,  barring  a 
romantic  incident  treated  separately.  A certain  man  of  import- 
ance is  introduced,  called  the  General,  whose  name  is  not 
given  in  this,  but  only  in  the  following  act  when,  after  a number 
of  incidents,  different  persons  are  brought  on  the  scene  and 
names  are  assigned  to  all ; then  also  the  General  bears  a name. 
This  shows  plainly  that  this  individual  bore  no  name  in  the 
primitive  text  of  the  narrative ; and  discloses  the  fact  that  when 
the  tale  came  to  be  dramatised,  as  we  now  find  it,  the  necessity 
arose  of  assigning  names  to  one  and  all  the  principal  persons 
brought  on  the  scene.  A narrative  of  this  description,  coming 
from  India  to  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates  as  an  oral  narrative, 
would  have  been  told  without  personal  names,  except  perhaps 
of  one  or  two  of  the  principal  personages.  It  is  well  to  re- 
member that  besides  Habban  the  messenger,  Gondophares  the 
king,  Gad,  his  brother,  Xanthippus  the  deacon,  no  names  occur 
in  the  book  till  we  come  to  the  full  dramatic  effort  produced 
in  Act  VIII.,  where  the  last  scenes  are  described.  The  names 
occurring  in  the  Acts  are  treated  separately  under  No.  34. 

25.  Act  VII. — Discussion  Continued 

We  now  return  to  the  contents  of  Act  VII.  The  General, 
having  heard  of  Thomas’s  preaching  ‘ throughout  all  India,  came 
to  him  ’ to  ask  him  to  his  house.  The  text  recites  that  the 
Apostle,  after  taking  leave  of  his  converts,  whom  he  placed 
under  the  charge  of  Xanthippus  the  deacon,  set  out  with  the 
General,  who  had  come  in  a cart  drawn  ‘ by  cattle,’  as  the  text 
expresses  it,  to  seek  the  Apostle.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
horses  are  not  in  use,  rather,  we  should  say,  were  not  in  common 
use  in  early  times,  and  are  not  even  now  in  Southern  India ; 
while  in  Upper,  and  Northern  India  especially,  they  have  been 
in  general  use  at  all  times.  The  country  cart  drawn  by  oxen  is 
commonly  employed  throughout  Southern  India,  not  only  for 
the  transport  of  produce,  but  also  for  personal  conveyance  from 


APPENDIX 


261 


place  to  place  both  in  town  and  country  even  to  this  day,  except 
where  Europeans  dwell  in  numbers.  In  Native  States  hardly 
any  other  vehicle  is  procurable,  but  the  state  of  things  must 
be  now  rapidly  altering  with  the  introduction  of  railways ; and 
if  even  now  it  be  still  so,  in  ancient  times  it  must  have  been  the 
general,  almost  exclusive,  means  of  conveyance.  So  the  detail 
of  the  General  travelling  in  a ‘ bullock  cart,’  as  they  call  it  in 
India,  gives  a touch  of  local  colouring  to  the  scene.  Had  the 
incident  anything  to  do  with  Northern  India,  where  Gondophares’ 
kingdom  was  situated,  the  horse  would  have  been  introduced  on 
the  scene,  and  the  General  would  have  been  mounted  on  a steed. 
Gondophares  on  his  coins  is  figured  riding  a horse,  not  seated  in 
a cart  drawn  by  oxen.  The  local  colouring  offered  by  this  in- 
cident will  be  strengthened  by  other  incidents  which  will  be 
noticed  in  No.  33. 

We  return  once  again  to  the  story.  The  General  had  a wife 
and  daughter;  both  are  said  to  be  possessed  by  evil  spirits.  It 
was  this  misfortune  which  had  induced  him  to  seek  the  Apostle’s 
aid.  The  possession,  it  would  appear,  was  of  an  impure  form,  as 
implied  by  what  is  narrated  ; this  could  but  be  the  sequel,  or 
the  result  of  their  having  led  an  impure  life.  The  Apostle,  on 
arriving  at  the  house,  found  the  two  women  in  a frightful  con- 
dition ; it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  details,  they  would  besides 
not  be  reliable.  They  were  delivered,  and  must  have  been  made 
to  do  penance  in  atonement  for  their  conduct,  and  wrere  placed 
under  instruction.  In  such  cases  the  conferring  of  baptism  would 
be  deferred  for  a considerable  time.  This  in  fact  is  what  we  find 
had  been  done  in  the  case ; they  were  only  admitted  to  it  shortly 
before  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom. 


26.  A Romantic  Interpolation 

This  Act  offers  a characteristic  specimen  of  the  embellish- 
ments introduced  by  foreign  hands.  On  the  drive  the  travellers 
meet  a troop  of  wild  asses,  four  of  these  allow  themselves  to  be 
yoked  to  the  cart,  replacing  the  cattle,  and  thus  the  Apostle,  the 
General,  and  the  driver  continue  their  romantic  journey.  The 
tale  of  this  incident  was  not,  most  likely,  carried  from  India  to 
the  Mesopotamian  reviser  of  the  text.  The  one  place  in  India 
where  the  wild  ass  could  exist,  and  where  he  is  still  found, 
is  the  great  sandy  expanse  stretching  from  the  east  of  the  Indus 


262 


APPENDIX 


below  its  junction  with  the  Sutlej,  to  within  a few  miles  of  Delhi, 
and  extending  from  the  Rann  of  Kutch  northwards  to  Ferozepore 
and  Sirsa,  known  as  the  Indian  or  Bikaneer  Desert.  The  writer 
was  informed  by  a friend  that  in  the  cold  season  these  wild, 
fleet  denizens  of  those  sandy  plains  visit  the  salt  licks  of  the 
Rann ; and  when  he  was  at  Ferozepore  in  the  Punjab,  he  pos- 
sessed the  skin  of  a wild  ass  shot  a day’s  journey  from  Fazilka,  on 
the  Sutlej,  on  the  outer  limb  of  this  desert.  The  species,  how- 
ever, is  well  known  in  the  sandy  tracts  of  Persia ; and  Marco 
Polo  mentions  wild  asses  when  on  his  homeward  journey  from 
China,  en  route  from  Yezd  to  Kerman.  So  we  may  take  it  that 
a Gnostic  or  other  hand  introduced  the  incident  as  an  illustration 
from  a scene  near  home  to  enhance  the  charms  of  the  narrative 
to  his  Eastern  readers. 

It  will  be  most  opportune  that  we  here  point  out  to  the  reader, 
not  to  have  to  break  the  sequence  of  the  narrative  too  often,  that 
the  Passio,  after  giving  the  substance  of  what  is  recited  in  the  next 
Act,  reproduces  not  only  the  first  ordeal  before  his  martyrdom 
to  which  Thomas  is  subjected,  but  also  a second,  and  then 
narrates  a striking  scene  at  the  temple  when  at  the  Apostle’s 
prayer  the  idol  is  suddenly  destroyed.  The  reader  is  informed 
that  after  the  first  ordeal — de  lanceis  ignitis ; the  text  omits 
entirely  the  second — de  fornace , and  the  incident — de  templo  solis, 
with  the  destruction  of  the  idol.  Both  the  missing  parts  are 
reproduced  verbatim  in  De  Mir.  from  the  Passio — a proof  that  the 
unnamed  text  from  which  Gregory  took  what  he  incorporated 
in  De  Aliraculis  was  bereft  of  these  scenes.  This  important 
subject  will  receive  separate  treatment  under  No.  32. 

27.  Act  VIII. — Narrative 

‘ Act  VIII. — Mygdonia  and  Karish.’  The  title  covers  only  part 
of  the  story  given  in  this  Act.  The  Greek  version,  which  closely 
follows  the  text,  subdivides  it:  (1)  the  doings  of  the  wife  of 
Charisius;  (2)  the  story  of  Mygdonia’s  baptism;  (3)  the  doings 
of  the  wife  of  Misdeus ; (4)  the  doings  of  Uazanes,  the  son  of 
Misdeus  ; (5)  the  martyrdom  of  the  holy  and  blessed  Apostle 
Thomas  who  suffered — ry  TvStp — in  India.  The  text  has  a 
following  but  short  section,  with  the  sub-head — ‘The  consumma- 
tion of  Judas  Thomas.’  Wright’s  text  of  the  Acts  is  divided 
into  eight,  while  Bedjan’s  gives  as  many  as  sixteen  acts.  The 


Stained  Glass,  Cathedral,  Tours 


APPENDIX  263 

summary  here  given  shall  be  brief,  as  several  of  the  details  will 
demand  separate  treatment. 

Karish  is  a kinsman  of  the  king  and  Mygdonia  is  his  wife. 
She  hears  of  the  arrival  of  a preacher  of  a new  god  and  of  a new 
religion  : from  what  she  learns  from  the  General's  family,  she  is 
desirous  of  hearing  the  prophet  of  this  new  faith.  She  is  conveyed 
in  a palki,  or  palanquin,  to  the  house  of  the  General,  where  the 
newly  arrived  preacher  is  staying ; the  palki  is  lowered  to  the 
ground  near  to  where  he  stands.  At  the  close  of  Thomas’s 
discourse  she  comes  out  of  the  palanquin,  approaches  the 
Apostle,  and  addresses  him.  Her  husband  Karish  is  awaiting 
her  at  home.  She,  on  her  return,  excuses  herself  for  the 
evening.  Early  next  morning  Karish  goes  to  see  the  king,  and 
Mygdonia  betakes  herself  to  the  Apostle  and  receives  further 
instruction.  Karish  going  home  for  the  day  meal  [the  midday 
repast]  finds  his  wife  absent ; she  also  returns  home,  but  only 
late  in  the  evening ; this  gives  rise  to  a difference  between  the 
husband  and  the  wife;  she  denies  herself  to  him.  Early  next 
morning  the  husband  lodges  a complaint  with  the  king  against 
the  preaching  of  Thomas  and  the  painful  sequel  it  had  developed 
in  his  home.  The  king  then  sends  for  the  General — whose  name  is 
here  introduced  for  the  first  time— and  he  is  questioned  about  the 
new  preacher.  In  reply,  he  informs  the  king  of  the  great  benefit 
Thomas  had  conferred  on  his  family.  The  king  orders  a guard 
to  be  sent  to  fetch  the  Apostle  ; but  they,  on  arrival,  finding 
Mygdonia  there  and  a great  crowd,  hesitate  to  execute  the  order 
and  think  it  better  to  return  and  report  how  matters  stand.  On 
their  informing  the  court  of  this,  Karish,  who  was  there  awaiting 
the  development  of  events,  proposes  to  the  king  to  go  himself. 
He  went  with  the  guard,  and,  pulling  off  the  turban  of  one  of  the 
servants,  threw  it  round  the  Apostle’s  neck,  and  caused  him  to 
be  dragged  into  the  king’s  presence.  The  Apostle  gives  no  reply 
to  the  questions  put  to  him  ; he  is  ordered  to  be  whipped,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  lashes  are  inflicted,  and  he  is  led  to  prison. 
The  text  here  very  significantly  reports  what  would  seem  in 
substance  to  be  a relic  of  the  primitive  narrative  (p.  237) : ‘But 
Judas,  when  he  went  to  prison,  was  glad  and  rejoiced,  saying  : 
“ I thank  Thee,  my  Lord  Jesus  the  Messiah,  that  Thou  hast 
deemed  me  worthy  not  only  to  believe  in  Thee,  but  also  to  bear 
many  things  for  Thy  sake,”  ’ & c. 

After  this  Karish  returned  home  rejoicing:  but  he  finds  his  wife 


APPENDIX 


264 

in  great  grief.  During  the  night  she  goes  to  the  prison,  taking  with 
her  money  to  bribe  the  keepers  and  obtain  admission.  To  her 
astonishment,  on  the  way  she  meets  the  Apostle  and  takes  him  to 
her  house.  She  awakens  her  nurse,  Narkia,  and  tells  her  to  fetch 
certain  things  which  were  necessary  for  baptism.  This  is  ad- 
ministered to  her  by  the  Apostle ; the  nurse  also,  at  her  own 
request,  is  baptized.  Thomas  then  returns  to  his  prison. 

Karish  rising  again  early  in  the  morning,  goes  to  Mygdonia, 
whom  he  finds  in  prayer  with  her  nurse  and  still  opposed  to  his 
wishes.  He  starts  at  once  for  the  court  and  lays  his  complaint 
once  more  before  the  king.  The  king  in  reply  said  : ‘ Let  us 
fetch  and  destroy  him.’  But  Karish  thought  it  better  to  suggest 
that  he  should  rather  be  utilised  to  influence  Mygdonia  to  change 
her  conduct.  The  king  fell  in  with  this  view,  and  Thomas  is  sent 
for.  The  king  sets  him  at  liberty  and  tells  him,  ‘ Lo,  I let  thee 
loose,  go  and  persuade  Mygdonia,  the  wife  of  Karish,  not  to  part 
from  him.’  Karish  accompanies  the  Apostle  to  his  house. 
Thomas  is,  by  the  Gnostic  interpolator,  made  to  say  to  her, 

‘ My  daughter,  Mygdonia,  consent  unto  what  thy  brother  Karish 
saith  unto  thee.’  At  this  she  quotes  his  own  words — put  into 
the  mouth  of  both  by  the  Gnostic — against  himself.  Thomas 
leaves  them  and  goes  back  to  the  house  of  the  General.  The 
latter  asks  for  baptism  for  himself,  wife,  and  daughter ; they  are 
instructed  further,  and  then  baptized. 

Then  follows  the  story  of  King  Mazdai’s  family  and  their 
conversion. 

The  king,  after  dismissing  Thomas,  communicated  to  Tertia, 
his  wife,  what  had  befallen  Karish.  Tertia  goes  next  morning 
to  visit  Mygdonia ; she  finds  her  seated  in  penitential  robes 
bemoaning  her  fate.  Tertia  expostulates  with  her  at  what  she 
beholds.  Mygdonia  then  discloses  to  her  the  new  life,  and  she 
is  at  once  fired  with  the  desire  to  see  and  hear  the  prophet  of 
the  new  faith.  She  goes  to  the  Apostle  at  once  and  converses 
with  him ; she  returns  home  full  of  the  new  ideas  she  has  im- 
bibed. The  king  inquires  of  her  why  she  returned  on  foot — a 
thing  beneath  her  dignity.  Tertia  passes  the  remark  by  and 
thanks  him  for  sending  her  to  Mygdonia.  She  adds,  she  had 
heard  the  new  life  and  had  seen  the  Apostle  of  the  new  God, 
and  avowed  her  change  of  mind. 

Her  husband’s  astonishment  needs  no  description  : he  rushes 
out,  meets  Karish,  upbraids  him  for  dragging  him  also  into 


APPENDIX 


265 


‘Sheol,’  and  says:  ‘He  had  bewitched  Tertia  also.’  They  go 
to  the  General’s  house  and  assault  the  Apostle  ; he  is  ordered 
to  be  brought  to  the  seat  of  judgment.  While  Thomas  is  de- 
tained there  by  the  guard,  the  king’s  son,  Vizan,  enters  the 
hall.  He  takes  Thomas  aside  and  converses  with  him.  Thomas, 
brought  to  judgment,  is  interrogated.  The  king  becomes 
enraged  and  orders  plates  of  iron  to  be  heated,  and  the 
Apostle  is  made  to  stand  on  them  barefooted.  Whereupon 
a copious  spring  of  water  suddenly  gushes  out  from  the  earth  ; 
the  fire  is  extinguished,  the  plates  are  immersed,  and  the 
executioners  fly  in  terror.  The  Apostle  is  then  remanded  to 
prison,  and  the  General  and  the  king’s  son  accompany  him  ; the 
latter  asks  leave  to  go  and  bring  his  wife  Manashar.  Tertia, 
Mygdonia,  and  Narkia,  having  bribed  the  guard,  also  enter  the 
prison,  when  each  narrates  the  trials  she  had  to  endure. 

On  hearing  all  this  Thomas  offers  thanks  to  God;  Vizan  is 
told  to  go  and  prepare  what  is  needful  for  the  service  which  is  to 
follow.  On  the  way  he  meets  his  wife  Manashar ; Thomas 
overtakes  them,  accompanied  by  Sifur,  his  wife  and  daughter, 
also  Mygdonia  with  Tertia  and  Narkia.  They  all  entered  the 
house  of  Vizan  ; it  was  then  night.  After  praying  and  address- 
ing them,  the  Apostle  asked  Mygdonia  to  prepare  the  women 
for  baptism.  They  are  then  baptized,  and  when  they  had  come 
up  from  the  water  the  Eucharist  is  celebrated,  as  is  stated  to 
have  been  done  at  the  two  preceding  administrations  of  baptism. 
All  received  holy  communion ; the  Apostle  left  them  and 
returned  of  his  own  accord  to  be  re-imprisoned ; ‘ they  were 
grieved  and  were  weeping  because  they  knew  that  King  Mazdai 
would  kill  him.’ 

28.  Act  VIII.  Discussed — Gnostic  Sects  in  Asia 

We  ought  now  to  take  up  in  succession  various  questions 
affecting  some  of  the  details  of  the  narrative  reproduced ; but 
it  will  be  advisable  first  to  give  a short  sketch  of  Gnostic  sects, 
to  enable  the  reader  to  follow  the  leading  features  of  the  numerous 
interpolations  introduced  into  the  text. 

Gnosticism  and  the  sects  that  embraced  it  originated  within 
Christian  communities  in  certain  parts  of  Asia,  but  at  root  it  was 
a foreign  error  (see  article,  ‘ Abrasax,’  Did.  cCArchtol.  Chret.  et  de 
Liturg .,  Paris,  1903,  col.  132)  which  some  early  Christians  in  a 
spirit  of  false  rigourism  and  affected  severity  had  adopted. 


266 


APPENDIX 


(a)  Tatian,  born  in  Syria  between  a.d.  i 20-1 30,  once  a disciple 
of  St.  Justin,  the  Roman  martyr,  left  Rome  after  the  death  of  the 
latter  between  17  2-1 73,  and  had  already  lapsed  into  heresy. 
Among  other  errors,  he  held  marriage  to  be  no  better  than  an 
impure  life.  He  settled  in  Mesopotamia  (Epiphanius,  Haeres., 
xlvi.  n.  1)  where  he  composed  The  Diatessaron 1 — ‘the  four 
gospels  in  one.'  The  use  of  this  book  was  forbidden  in  the 
churches  by  Rabbula,  Bishop  of  Edessa  (a.d.  41 1-435);  and  by 
Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyrus  or  Cyrrhus,  near  the  Euphrates, 
in  whose  diocese  over  200  copies  were  destroyed  (a.d.  423- 
457).  In  support  of  his  tenets,  Tatian  excluded  from  his  com- 
pilation of  the  Diatessaron  the  genealogy  of  Christ,  and  opened 
with  the  words  : ‘ In  the  beginning  was  the  Word.’  He  became 
also  the  founder  of  a sect  named  the  Encratitae  (Ephiph.,  ut 
supr.,  and  Jerome,  Chron.  of  Eusebius , 4 Tatianus  haereticus 
agnoscitur  a quo  Encratitae.’) 

( b ) Bar-Daisan  of  Edessa,  a convert  from  heathenism,  was 
born  An.  Gr.  465  = a.d.  r 54s,  and  lapsed  into  Gnosticism.  He 
and  his  son  Harmonius  composed  in  their  native  Syriac  tongue 
many  hymns  tainted  with  their  doctrinal  errors.  The  father, 
as  St.  Ephraem  ( Oper . Syr.,  tom.  ii.  p.  553)  says,  composed 
also  150  psalms  in  imitation  of  those  of  David.  To  prevent  the 
further  use  of  their  hymns  by  the  faithful,  Ephraem  composed 
his  hymns  and  set  them  to  Harmonius’s  tune.  The  name  Bar- 
Daisan  means  1 2 child  of  the  river  Daisan,’  which  flows  by  Edessa, 
as  his  mother  is  said  to  have  given  birth  to  him  on  the  banks 
of  that  river.3  Bar-Daisan  was  known  to  Julius  Africanus,  who 
met  him  on  his  visit  to  the  court  of  Abgar  IX.  of  Edessa  (who 
reigned  a.d.  179-214),  and  styled  him  ‘the  Parthian,'  and  to 
Porphyrius,  who  called  him  ‘ the  Babylonian.’  The  Acts  of 
Thomas,  Syriac  text,  contain  the  Gnostic  hymn  by  him,  ‘The 

1 The  original  text  of  the  Diatessaron,  the  Syriac,  has  not  been  yet 
discovered,  but  the  work  exists  in  an  Arabic  form  and  was  published  with  a 
Latin  translation  by  the  late  Cardinal  Ciasca  from  a Vatican  codex  and  a 
more  complete  Egyptian  copy  ; an  English  translation  was  given  by  the 
Rev.  J.  H.  Hill,  Edinburgh,  1894,  see  Introduction , pp.  6-7. 

2 See  Assemani,  Bibl.  Oriental.,  i.  p.  47,  and  Chron.  Edessen.,  ibid.  ; 
also  No.  viii.  of  same  in  Guidi’s  Chron.  A/inor.,  p.  4,  Scriptores  Syri,  ut.  supr. 

3 See  article,  ‘ Bardesane,’  in  new  Dictionnaire  de  Thiologie  Catholique , 
Paris,  1903,  by  Mangenot,  now  in  course  of  publication.  The  article  treats 
very  fully  the  history  and  teaching  of  this  early  leader  of  a sect,  and  repro- 
duces the  result  of  the  latest  researches. 


APPENDIX 


267 

Hymn  of  the  Soul  ’ (translation,  pp.  238-245),  of  which  Professor 
Burkitt  has  given  an  English  rendering  in  verse.  There  are  also 
German  and  French  versions  of  the  same.  Bedjan’s  edition 
does  not  contain  this  hymn. 

(c)  Marcion  was  the  son  of  a bishop  of  Pontus,  and  had  been 
excommunicated  by  his  father  for  the  seduction  of  a consecrated 
virgin.  He  went  to  Rome,  c.  190,  and  sought  re-admission  to  the 
communion  of  the  church,  but  was  refused  until  he  first  ob- 
tained release  from  the  censure  he  had  incurred.  While  there 
he  came  to  be  acquainted  with  and  eventually  joined  Cardo,  a 
Syrian  Gnostic,  with  the  object  of  inflicting  a deadly  blow  on  the 
Church.  He  became  the  founder  of  the  sect  named  after  him,  the 
Marcionists  : his  followers  were  enjoined  to  abstain  from  marriage. 

To  the  Gnostic,  matter  was  essentially  evil  and  the  product  of 
the  demiurge  : on  this  point  the  sect  adopted  the  earlier  error 
of  the  Docetae.  In  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist  they  made 
use  of  water  and  abstained  entirely  from  wine.  See  Alzog’s 
Hist,  of  the  Church  (American  ed.)  vol.  i.  chap.  ii.  p.  304 ; 
also  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.,  tom.  i.,  ut  supr. ; Bardenhewer, 
Les  Peres  de  I’Eglise,  vol.  i.  § 17,  p.  167,  ‘Tatien.’ 

These  Syrian  Gnostics  who  reprobated  marriage  were  the 
heretics  who  corrupted  the  text  of  our  Acts  and  made  them 
a vehicle  for  the  diffusion  of  their  peculiar  views  in  regard  to 
the  married  state.  This  one  concept  permeates  the  entire  Syriac 
text : that  married  life  is  debasing  and  sinful ; that  abstinence 
from  it  is  the  proper  duty  of  a virtuous  soul ; and  that  those  who 
happen  to  have  contracted  it  should  deny  themselves.  Every 
opportunity  is  taken  to  inculcate  this ; events  in  the  story 
susceptible  of  a legitimate  interpretation  are  purposely  diverted 
to  the  cause  that  they  upheld.  Hence  in  and  out  of  season 
exhortations  and  prayers  are  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  Apostle  to 
forward  this  unnatural  and  unchristian  tenet.  The  converts 
brought  on  the  scene  are  shown  to  have  a strong  penchant  for 
it,  and  develop  into  ardent  and  zealous  promoters  of  the  view. 
As  the  Syrian  Gnostics  manipulated  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  so 
Marcion,  the  Pontic,  made  use  of  the  gospel  of  Luke  for  a 
similar  purpose.  His  edition  of  the  text  commenced  with  the 
opening  words : ‘ In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius 
Caesar’ — thus  cutting  off  the  entire  first  and  second  chapters  of 
this  gospel,  containing  the  genealogy,  the  virgin-birth  of  Christ, 
and  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist,  &c.  St.  Epiphanius  (Migne, 


268 


APPENDIX 


P.  Gr.-L.,  vol.  xxiii.,  Haeres.,  xlii.  cols.  359-419)  gives  a very  full 
account,  and  almost  the  entire  text  of  the  altered  sections  by 
Marcion.  An  English  translation  of  Marcion’s  gospel  was 
published  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Hill  from  a recently  discovered 
MS,  but  no  allusion  whatever  is  made  to  the  older  text  given  by 
Epiphanius. 

In  regard  to  our  Acts  Epiphanius  mentions  two  Gnostic 
sects  which  in  his  time,  a.d.  315-403,  made  special  use  of  them 
in  their  assemblies,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Scriptures.  One  of 
these  had  its  chief  seat  at  Edessa.  When  treating  of  the 
Encratites  who  succeeded  Tatian,  he  says  ( llaeres .,  xlvii.)  that 
they  added  many  more  ridiculous  errors  to  those  they  had 
imbibed  from  their  master : they  openly  make  the  devil  the 
author  of  marriage ; in  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  they 
make  use  only  of  water  for  they  abhor  wine  and  style  it  diabolical ; 
‘among  their  primary  Scriptures  they  reckoned  the  Acts  of 
Andrew  and  John  as  well  as  those  of  Thomas,’  &c.  May  not 
these  have  been  the  first  to  corrupt  the  text  of  the  Acts  of 
Thomas?  In  Haeres.,  Ixi.,  dealing  with  the  ‘ Apostolici  ’ ‘who 
renounced  all  things  and  held  fast  to  the  principle  of  possessing 
no  goods;’  these,  he  says,  came  from  the  followers  of  Tatian, 
as  the  Encratites  and  the  Kathari ; they  hold  different  sacra- 
ments and  mysteries  from  ours  ; they  do  not  receive  back  the 
‘ lapsi,’  and  as  to  marriages  they  hold  the  same  views  as  those 
mentioned  above. 

What  St.  Epiphanius  distinctly  says  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas, 
that  they  were  used  by  Gnostic  heretics,  is  confirmed  in  a general 
way  by  St.  Ephraem,  who  further  lays  on  them  the  distinct  charge 
of  falsifying  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  A commentary  of  his  on 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  has  been  preserved  in  an  Armenian 
version ; this,  together  with  a translation  in  Latin,  has  been 
issued  by  the  Mechitarist  monks  of  Venice.1  Referring  to 
certain  points  of  doctrine,  he  says  (p.  119):  Nam  putant  disci- 
puli  Bardezani,  quod  haec  a Bardezano  magistro  suo  adinventa 
fuerint — ‘the  disciples  of  Bar-Daisan  believe  these  things 
were  discovered  by  their  teacher,  Bar-Daisan  ’ ; Atque  ab  ipsis 
omnino  scriptae  sunt  Praxes  Kvrwv  [acta  nimirum  Apostolorum 
apocrypha]  ut  inter  Apostolorum  virtutes  ac  signa,  quae  con- 
scripsere,  scriberent  in  nomine  Apostolorum  iniquitatem  quam 

1 .S'.  Ephraem  Syrii  Commentarii  in  Episto/as  D.  Pau/i,  nunc  primum  ex 
Armeno  in  Latinum  sermonem  a Fatribus  Mekitharistis  translati,  Venetiis, 
1893. 


APPENDIX 


269 


prohibebant  Apostoli — ‘ And  by  them  have  their  acts  been 
written,  that  among  the  signs  and  wonders  of  the  Apostles  which 
had  been  set  down  they  might,  in  the  name  of  the  Apostles, 
write  also  vice  and  evil  which  the  Apostles  had  forbidden.’ 
This  is  an  open  charge  against  the  followers  of  Bar-Daisan  of 
propagating  through  forged  Acts  of  the  Apostles  their  master’s 
errors.  ‘It  is  not  too  great  a leap,’ says  Professor  Burkitt  ( Journal 
of  Theological  Studies , vol.  i.,  1900),  ‘to  say  that  he  has  the 
Acts  of  Judas  Thomas  in  view.’ 


29.  Doctrinal  Additions  to  Acts  of  Thecla  and  Thomas 

We  propose  to  produce  parallel  passages  of  the  doctrinal 
insertions  found  in  the  Acta  Theclae  and  in  those  of  Thomas. 
This  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  exact  idea  of  the  nature, 
origin,  and  relative  dependence  of  these  doctrinal  interpolations, 
and  will  show  that  while  in  the  former  the  Gnostic  principles 
are  gradually  introduced,  and  put  in  the  mildest  form  they  can 
assume,  they  are  in  the  latter  openly  stated,  but  yet  so  that  they 
become  framed  after  the  model  of  what  is  found  in  the  earlier 
work — the  Acta  Theclae.  Quotations  of  the  latter  as  well  are 


given  from  Dr.  Wright’s  translal 
The  Acta  Theclae 

(1) 

At  the  opening  of  the  story, 
Paul,  on  entering  the  house  of 
Onesiphorus,  is  made  to  speak 
‘ words  of  God  concerning  the 
controlling  of  the  flesh’  (p.  1 18). 
The  narrative  discloses  the  be- 
trothal of  Thecla  to  Thamyris 
(p.  120);  Paul’s  discourses  are 
listened  to  with  avidity  by 
Thecla  (p.  119).  ‘Thamyris  is 
weeping  because  his  betrothed 
had  parted  with  him’  (p.  121). 

Thecla,  after  her  condemna- 
tion at  Iconium  to  be  burnt, 
was  looking  out  for  Paul  in  the 
crowd.  She  saw  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  was  sitting  beside  her  in 
the  likeness  of  Paul  (p.  128). 


(. Apocryphal  Acts). 

The  Acts  of  Thomas 

(0 

Thomas  is  taken  by  the  king 
to  bless  the  young  couple ; this 
he  does  in  a long  prayer  (pp. 
1 53-1 55).  When  all  had  re- 
tired from  the  bridal  chamber, 
the  bridegroom  ‘saw our  Lord  in 
the  likeness  of  Judas  [Thomas] 
who  was  standing  and  talking 
to  the  bride.  “Lo,  thou  didst 
go  out  first,”  says  the  bride- 
groom in  astonishment,  “how 
art  thou  still  here?”  “I  am 
not  Judas,”  replies  our  Lord, 
“but  I am  the  brother  of  Judas,” 
and  our  Lord  sat  on  the  bed  ’ 
(P'  i55)- 


2JO 


APPENDIX 


The  Acta  Theclae 

(2) 

He  (Thamyris)  complains, 
‘ Who  is  this  man  within  who 
leads  astray  the  souls  of  young 
women  and  of  virgins?  Com- 
mands that  there  be  no  marriage 
feasts  ’ (p.  1 22).  ‘This  man  does 
not  suffer  virgins  to  become  the 
wives  of  men’  (p.  124). 


(3) 

The  cry  is  raised  that  he  is 
a magician.  ‘ Drag  him  along, 
he  is  a magician,  for  he  has 
corrupted  all  our  wives  ’ (p. 
124).  ‘The  whole  people  cry 
out  and  say : Destroy  this 
magician’  (p.  127). 


The  Acts  of  Thomas 

(2) 

This  is  the  instruction  given : 
‘ Ye  preserve  yourselves  from 

this intercourse,  ye  become 

pure  temples  and  are  saved,’  &c. 
(p.  155).  ‘The  young  people 
were  persuaded  by  our  Lord, 
and  gave  themselves  up  to  Him ; 
and  were  preserved  from  lust’ 
(p.  156). 


(3) 

The  king,  on  hearing  of  the 
determination  taken  by  the 
young  couple,  rent  his  garment, 
and  sent  in  haste  through  the 
city,  ‘Go  and  bring  me  that 
sorcerer’  (p.  158).  Mazdai’s 
messenger  says  to  the  General, 
‘ Dost  thou  sit  and  listen  to 
vain  words,  whilst  King  Mazdai 
in  his  wrath  is  seeking  to  destroy 
thee,  because  of  this  sorcerer 
and  seducer  whom  thou  hast 
brought  ?’ (p.  233).  The  king 
says,  ‘What  is  this  story? — 
what  doth  he  teach,  this  sor- 
cerer?’ (p.  235).  The  king) 
in  his  anger,  says  to  Karish, 
‘ Why  didst  thou  not  let  me 
destroy  that  wizard  before  he 
could  corrupt  my  wife  by  his 
sorceries  ? ’ And  again,  ‘ He 
had  bewitched  Tertia  also’ 
(p.  272). 


APPENDIX 


271 


The  Acta  Theclae 
(4) 

A popular  cry  is  raised — 
He  separates  young  men  from 
virgins,  and  virgins  from  young 
men’(p.  122).  Thamyris’  public 
complaint  is  this,  1 Paul,  thou 
hast  destroyed  the  city  of  the 
Iconians,  and  my  betrothed,  so 
that  she  will  not  be  mine’  (p. 
1 24).  The  hegemon  asks  Paul, 
‘What  teachest  thou?  For  they 
are  not  few  who  accuse  thee’ 
(p.  124).  Paul  replies,  ‘I  teach 
a living  God,’  &c.  ; 1 and  He  has 
sent  me  that  I might  rescue 
them  from  destruction,  and 
from  uncleanness,  and  from  all 
deadly  lusts  ’ (p.  125). 


(5) 

When  Paul  is  sent  to  prison 
Thecla  bribes  the  jailors,  giving 
them  her  mirror  of  gold  [Greek, 
silver  mirror]  to  obtain  admit- 
tance to  him  in  the  prison. 


The  Acts  of  Thomas 

(4) 

Karish,  the  husband  of  Myg- 
donia,  complains  of  Thomas 
that  he  teaches,  ‘ Ye  cannot  be 
children  of  this  everlasting  life 
which  I teach,  unless  ye  sever 
yourselves,  a man  from  his  wife, 
and  a woman  from  her  hus- 
band’ (p.  233).  The  king 
reproaches  Thomas,  ‘ Why 
teachest  thou  a doctrine  which 
gods  and  men  abhor?’  (p.  262). 

The  poison  is  absorbed. 
Mygdonia,  in  reply  to  Judas, 
says  her  husband  was  angry 
with  her,  and  meditated  to 
punish  her,  ‘because  she  did  not 
give  herself  to  corruption  with 
him’  (p.  234).  Tertia  advises 
the  king  her  husband,  after  her 
first  interview  with  Judas,  ‘ I 
beseech  thee  to  fear  the  God 
who  hath  come  hither  by  means 
of  this  stranger,  and  to  keep  thy- 
self purely  unto  God’  (p.  271). 

(5) 

When  Thomas  was  sent  to 
prison,  Mygdonia  also,  on  hear- 
ing it,  took  money  with  her 
and  went  without  any  one  per- 
ceiving her  to  the  prison  to 
give  it  to  the  keepers  to  let  her 
in  (pp.  255-256).  This  circum- 
stance is  interpolated  into  the 
text  to  no  purpose,  for  she  is 
made  to  meet  him  on  the  way  ; 
yet  it  seems  to  have  been  intro- 
duced to  follow  up  the  lines  of 
the  prototype  in  Theda’s  Acta. 
Another  instance  when  payment 
was  made  also  occurs  (p.  284). 


272 


APPENDIX 


The  Acta  Theclae 

(6) 

Cause  of  Theda’s  condemna- 
tion at  Iconium.  She  is  asked 
in  court  by  the  hegemon,  ‘Why 
art  thou  not  to  thy  betrothed 
according  to  the  law  of  the 
Iconians  ? ’ She  gives  no 
answer ; her  mother  is  made 
to  cry  out,  1 Burn  the  fool  in 
the  midst  of  the  theatre,  that 
all  the  women  whose  doctrine 
this  is,  who  see  her,  may  be 
afraid.’  The  hegemon  was 
sorry  for  her ; then  he  con- 
demned her  to  be  burnt,  &c. 
(p.  127). 


(7) 

A list  of  thirteen  Gnostic 
Beatitudes  is  given  at  pp.  118- 
119  ; they  are  a mixture  of  the 
special  tenets  of  the  sect  with 
some  of  the  eight  Beatitudes 
of  the  Gospel. 


The  Acts  of  Thomas 

(6) 

Cause  of  Judas’s  condemna- 
tion. After  the  views  disclosed 
by  Tertia,  the  king  rushes  out 
and  exclaims  : ‘ May  the  soul  of 
Karish  have  no  rest,  who  hath 
brought  this  sorrow  upon  my 
soul.’  And  when  he  finds  him, 
he  says,  ‘ Why  hast  thou  taken 
me  as  thy  companion  unto 
Sheol,’  &c.  ; ‘ Why  didst  thou 
not  let  me  destroy  that  wizard 
before  he  could  corrupt  my  wife 
by  his  sorceries?’  (p.  272).  All 
this  is  said  not  because  of  any 
change  of  religion  that  had 
taken  place,  but  because  his 
wife  also,  as  in  the  case  of 
Mygdonia,  was  taught  to  deny 
herself  to  him.  So,  when  the 
sentence  of  condemnation  is 
passed,  it  is  because  of  the 
Gnostic  doctrine  taught  and 
upheld ; see  No.  32. 

(7) 

The  Gnostic  Beatitudes  in 
the  text  on  virginity  number 
thirteen,  and  are  a great  deal 
more  explicit  in  their  meaning 
than  those  in  Theda’s  Acta 
(pp.  226-227).  As  a rule,  all 
the  doctrinal  insertions  of  the 
text  are  more  pronounced  than 
in  the  former,  but  the  develop- 
ment runs  on  the  same  lines 
throughout. 


Stained  Glass,  Cathedral,  Bourges  (France) 


APPENDIX 


273 


The  details  contained  in  Act  VIII.,  which  had  been  reserved, 
now  demand  separate  treatment.  The  chief  questions  con- 
cern— the  baptisms  conferred,  whether  they  were  by  oil ; the 
different  celebrations  of  the  Eucharist ; the  ordeals  the  Apostle 
was  subjected  to,  and  the  destruction  of  the  idol,  omitted  in  the 
text,  and  why ; such  points,  if  any,  as  may  disclose  Indian 
usages ; whether  any  of  the  names  that  occur  in  the  narrative 
belong  to  India;  the  age  or  date  to  which  the  Acts  belong;  the 
martyrdom ; and  what  data,  if  any,  can  be  given  as  to  when 
the  removal  took  place  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  from  India  to 
Edessa. 


30.  Baptism,  Whether  by  Oil 

Baptism  of  Mygdonia  (pp.  257-258).  She  orders  her  nurse  : 
‘ Fetch  secretly  for  me  a loaf  of  bread,  and  bring  a mingled 
draught  of  wine,  and  have  pity  on  me.’  Narkia  the  nurse 
answers,  ‘ I will  fetch  thee  bread  in  plenty,  and  many  flagons  of 
wine,  and  I will  do  thy  pleasure.’  Mygdonia  rejoins,  ‘ Many 
flagons  are  of  no  use  to  me,  but  a mingled  draught  in  a cup,  and 
one  whole  loaf,  and  a little  oil,  even  if  it  be  in  a lamp,  bring 
unto  me.’  The  Greek  has  (p.  68,  11.  16-17),  ‘Measures  I don’t 
require,  nor  these  many  loaves,  but  only  this  (a  cup  of)  mixed 
water,  one  loaf,  and  oil.’  Text — ‘And  when  Narkia  had  brought 
them,  Mygdonia  uncovered  her  head,  and  was  standing  before 
the  holy  Apostle.  And  he  took  oil  and  cast  it  on  her  head  and 
said,  “ Holy  oil  which  wast  given  to  us  for  unction,”  &c.  And 
he  told  her  nurse  to  anoint  her,  and  to  put  a cloth  round  her 
loins,  and  he  fetched  the  basin  of  their  conduit  (the  piscina). 
And  Judas  went  up  and  stood  over  it  and  baptized  Mygdonia 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit  of  Holi- 
ness; and  when  she  had  come  out  and  put  on  her  clothes,’  &c. 

Baptism  of  Sifur’s  family  (p.  267).  Sifur  asks  for  baptism  for 
himself  and  family.  Thomas  before  baptizing  them,  ‘ cast  oil 
on  their  heads.’  ‘And  he  spake  and  they  brought  a large  vat, 
and  he  baptized  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son, 
and  the  Spirit  of  Holiness.’ 

Baptism  of  Vizan,  Tertia,  and  Manashar  (p.  289).  ‘ After  pray- 
ing Thomas  said  to  Mygdonia  : “ My  daughter  strip  thy  sisters.” 
And  she  stripped  them  and  put  girdles  on  them  and  brought 
them  near  to  him.  And  Vizan  came  near  first.  And  Judas  took 

S 


274 


APPENDIX 


oil  and  glorified  God,’  &c. ; then  followed  a prayer,  at  the  close 
of  which  ‘ he  cast  oil  upon  the  head  of  Vizan  and  upon  the 
heads  of  the  others  and  said,  In  Thy  name,  Jesus  the  Messiah, 
let  it  be  to  these  persons  for  the  remission  of  offences  and  sins 
and  for  the  destruction  of  the  enemy  and  for  the  healing  of  their 
souls  and  bodies  ; and  he  commanded  Mygdonia  to  anoint  them, 
and  he  himself  anointed  Vizan.  And  after  he  had  anointed 
them,  he  made  them  go  down  into  the  water  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Spirit  of  Holiness.’ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  all  these  three  instances 
the  text  recites  a valid  baptism  by  water  and  not  by  oil.  The 
unction  by  oil  preceding  the  baptismal  ceremony  may  belong  to 
an  earlier  rite,  perhaps  for  catechumens,  but  the  words  used  at 
the  third  baptism  also  give  reason  to  suppose  this  unction  was  a 
Gnostic  form,  perhaps,  of  initiation  to  the  sect  ; anyhow  it  does 
not  supersede  baptism.  It  has  been  obiter  said  by  some  writers, 
and  was  taken  for  granted,  that  the  Acts  supported  baptism  by 
oil,  but  the  text  clearly  rejects  such  a supposition. 

31.  Eucharistic  Celebrations 

After  describing  a baptism  the  Acts  generally  mention  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist  followed  by  communion  given  to 
the  new  converts  (see  pp.  166-167;  pp.  188-190;  pp.  258, 
267-268,  and  290  : in  the  second  of  the  passages  communion  is 
indiscriminately  administered  to  all  present).  On  the  three  last 
occasions  the  blessed  Eucharist  may  really  have  been  admini- 
stered as  the  Apostle  was  nearing  the  close  of  his  career  ; on  the 
last  of  these  occasions  he  was,  so  to  say,  on  the  eve  of  his 
martyrdom.  But  in  some  of  the  other  cases  the  text  may  be 
representing  what  was  perhaps  only  the  custom  prevailing  among 
the  Gnostic  sects,  and  not  the  common  usage  of  the  Apostolic 
Church.  The  Catholic  Church  never  sanctioned,  as  an  usage 
and  a rule,  the  giving  of  communion  to  converts  after  baptism, 
more  especially  so  when  they  came  from  heathenism  ; neither 
would  it  be  the  custom  to  confer  it  too  early  on  converts. 

On  two  occasions,  which  appear  to  be  the  more  striking 
instances,  viz.,  the  baptism  of  Mygdonia  (p.  258),  and  at  the 
general  communion  before  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom  (p.  290),  the 
wine  used  at  the  celebration  is  termed  ‘ the  mingled  draught  ’ in 
a cup,  and  ‘the  mingled  cup.’  We  shall  recur  to  these  passages 
in  No.  35. 


APPENDIX 


275 


32.  Incidents  Omitted  in  Present  Syriac  Text 

The  reader  has  been  warned  that  the  text  omits  two  important 
facts  concerning  the  Apostle,  of  which  the  Greek  version  as  well 
retains  no  trace,  but  which  have  survived  in  the  old  Latin  Passio, 
and  have  thence  been  incorporated  bodily,  without  any  change, 
into  the  narrative  De  Miraculis.  Max  Bonnet  treats  this  inser- 
tion as  an  interpolation,  and  is  inclined  to  make  light  of  the  facts 
themselves.  But  it  strikes  us  very  forcibly  that  the  learned 
Professor  has  not  studied  attentively  their  bearing  on  the  text 
itself,  nor  searched  for  the  reason  why  they  came  to  be  excluded 
from  the  Syriac  text,  and  are,  in  consequence,  found  missing  in 
the  Greek,  which  closely  follows  the  former,  even  to  details  and 
phraseology. 

The  text,  after  giving  the  first  ordeal  of  the  heated  plates  of 
iron  (pp.  275-276),  passes  on  to  the  king’s  order,  ‘ Drag  him 
to  prison,’  to  be  followed  up  by  the  Apostle’s  martyrdom.  The 
Passio,  after  giving  the  first  ordeal,  recites  also  a second  to  which 
Thomas  was  subjected,  and  then  gives  the  attempt  made  by 
the  king  to  force  the  Apostle  to  adore  the  sun-god  idol,  which 
ends  with  its  destruction  at  Thomas’s  prayer.  Are  these  two 
latter  incidents  so  incompatible  with  the  narrative  of  the  story 
that  they  should  be  summarily  dismissed  ? By  no  means.  On 
the  other  hand,  what  is  the  result  of  their  omission  from  the  tale  ? 
What  is  the  cause  prompting  the  Apostle’s  execution  ? If  the 
incident  of  the  idol  and  its  destruction  be  omitted,  the  narrative 
would  disclose  that  the  execution  of  the  Apostle  was  ordered 
and  carried  out  because  of  his  holding  and  inculcating  ideas 
unnatural  to  married  life  : or  in  other  words — according  to  the 
reading  of  the  text  and  of  the  Greek  version — the  Apostle 
Thomas  was  condemned  to  death,  not  because  he  was  the 
apostle  of  Christ,  the  God-man,  the  preacher  of  His  gospel,  and 
the  upholder  of  His  divinity,  but  because  he  had  merged  himself 
into  a Gnostic  teacher  upholding  unnatural  ideas  as  to  married 
life.  There  can  be  no  doubt  on  this  point.  We  have  already 
shown  that  it  was  on  this  account  he  was  condemned  according 
to  the  text  (see  No.  29,  quotation  6)  ; and  in  this  the  hand  that 
manipulated  the  text  for  doctrinal  purposes  faithfully  followed 
again,  as  has  been  shown,  the  lines  of  his  prototype,  the  Acta 
Theclae,  by  making  him  a Gnostic  martyr. 

In  addition  to  previous  quotations  we  add  one  more  to  make 


APPENDIX 


276 

the  point  perfectly  clear  why  King  Mazdai,  always  according  to  the 
present  Syriac  text,  condemned  Thomas  to  death.  At  pp.  263- 
264,  the  king  addresses  him  in  these  words  : ‘ Now,  therefore,  if 
thou  choosest,  thou  art  able  to  dissolve  these  former  charms  of 
thine  and  to  make  peace  and  concord  between  the  husband  and 
his  wife ; and  in  so  doing  thou  wilt  have  pity  on  thyself,’  &c. 

‘ And  know  if  thou  dost  not  persuade  her,  I will  destroy  thee  out 
of  this  life.’  The  object,  then,  of  the  omission  of  the  incident  of 
the  destruction  of  the  idol  becomes  perfectly  clear.  The  retain- 
ing of  it  would  make  him  a Christian  martyr,  the  omission  an 
upholder  of,  and  a martyr  for,  Gnostic  principles.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  Apostle  died  a martyr,  the  incident  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  idol  must  form  an  integral  part  of  the  narrative  of 
the  Acts. 

We  return  to  the  two  suppressed  passages.  Under  the  second 
ordeal  the  Apostle  was  forced  into  the  furnace  of  the  baths,  or 
the  steam  bath,  to  be  killed  ; he  issues  out  of  this  trial  on  the 
second  day  unharmed.  Finding  that  this  attempt  likewise 
failed,  the  Passio  narrates  that  Caritius — this  is  the  form  the 
name  Karish  assumes — suggests  that  he  should  be  robbed  of  the 
protection  of  his  God  by  forcing  him  to  adore  and  sacrifice  to 
the  idol  in  the  temple — -fac  ilium  sacrificare  deo  Soli  et  iram  incurrii 
dei  sui  qui ilium  liberat  (p.  156).  The  Apostle  is  made  to  follow 
a procession  going  to  the  temple  with  music  and  singing.  Even 
at  the  present  day  the  sacrificing  (Brahman)  priest  is  thrice  daily 
accompanied  by  such  a procession  when  he  goes  to  sacrifice  to  the 
idol,  early  morning,  noon,  and  evening.  Arriving  at  the  temple 
the  king  says  to  Thomas  : Modo  facia  m tundi  arteria  tua  si  non 
adoraueris  et  sacriftcaueris  ei — ‘ I will  cause  thy  bones  to  be 
broken  if  thou  wilt  not  adore  and  sacrifice  to  him.’  The  Apostle 
answers  : Ecce  adoro  sed  non  metallum ; ecce  adoro  sed  non 
idolum , &c. — ‘ I adore  not  a block  of  metal,  nor  an  idol  ’ ; adoro 
autem , meum  Do?ninum  Jesum  Christum — ‘ but  I adore  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ:’  In  cujus  nomine  impero  tibi , dae?non,  qui  hie  i?i 
ipso  lates , ut  nullum  hominum  laedens,  metallum  simulacri  com- 
tninuas — ‘ In  His  name  I command  thee,  O demon,  who  liest  con- 
cealed in  this  idol,  to  injure  no  person  but  to  destroy  the  metal 
of  this  image.’  Statim  autem  quasi  cera  juxta  ignem  posita  ita 
liquefactum  idolum  resolution  est — ‘ The  image  of  the  idol  is 
suddenly  dissolved  like  wax  before  the  fire.’  The  priests  raise  a 
howl,  the  king  runs  away  with  (Karish)  Caritius,  and  the  high 


APPENDIX 


2 77 

priest  of  the  temple,  seizing  a sword,  transfixes  the  Apostle,  ex- 
claiming, ‘ I will  avenge  my  god  ! ’ 

We  may  add  that  the  idol  was  probably  not  that  of  the  sun- 
god,  but,  as  will  seem  likely,  was  probably  an  Indian  idol  seated 
on  a car.  The  idea  of  the  sun-god,  likely  enough,  forms  part  of 
a textual  error  because  of  the  Acts  originating  in  Mesopotamia. 

The  above  reproduction  of  the  destruction  of  the  idol  up- 
holds, we  venture  to  think,  both  points  contended  for:  the 
reason  why  it  was  omitted,  and  the  necessity,  on  that  very 
account,  of  considering  it  an  integral  portion  of  the  narrative  of 
the  original  Acts.  This  further  proves  that  the  text  of  the  pre- 
sent Syriac  by  no  means  represents  the  original  compilation  or 
writing  in  its  primitive  form  ; and  that  the  Passio  represents  an 
earlier  text. 

33.  Acts  Disclose  Indian  and  Hindu  Customs 

We  now  pass  to  inquire  whether  the  contents  of  the  Acts 
offer  any  clue  to  fix  the  country  where  the  scenes  narrated  were 
transacted,  since,  in  spite  of  the  Acts  mentioning  ‘ the  realm  of 
India  ’ to  which  the  Apostle  had  gone,  there  are  yet  many 
Thomases  who  will  not  have  it  that  it  was  the  India  ‘of  pearls 
and  gems  ’ and  ‘ of  the  Brahmans  ’ of  the  ancients,  but  to  some 
other  India  that  Thomas  is  supposed  to  have  gone,  which  they 
themselves  are,  of  course,  unable  to  designate  or  substantiate. 

The  reader  will  remember  a small  detail  commented  upon  at  an 
earlier  stage  when  the  General  was  described  journeying  in  a cart 
drawn  ‘by  cattle’  to  meet  Thomas  and  invite  him  to  his  house. 
That  detail  being  peculiar  to  Southern  India,  would  fit  in  with 
that  portion  better  than  with  the  North-West  of  India.  We  now 
take  up  some  other  incidents  disclosing  local  colouring,  and  will 
enquire  how  far  they  support  the  view  of  his  martyrdom  in  the 
India  of  the  Hindus. 

(1)  Text,  p.  218  : ‘Mygdonia  had  come  to  see  the  new  sight 
of  the  new  god  who  was  preached,  and  the  new  Apostle  who  was 
come  to  their  country  : and  she  was  sitting  in  her  palanquin  and 
her  servants  were  carrying  her.’  In  a footnote  Dr.  Wright  adds, 

‘ Palki,  or  palanquin , seems  to  be  the  best  equivalent  of  the  [Syriac 
word]  in  the  passage.’ 

In  Southern  India  yet,  to  some  extent,  more  so  in  the  native 
states  of  Malabar,  the  palki  among  natives  is  considered  a more 


APPENDIX 


278 

honourable  means  of  personal  conveyance  than  a carriage  drawn 
by  horses.  It  is  used  invariably  at  marriage  ceremonies — indicat- 
ing the  older  customs  of  the  country ; and  in  the  States  of 
Malabar  the  writer  is  aware  that  after  the  elephant  the  palki  was 
considered  the  conveyance  next  in  dignity.  This,  or  its  equiva- 
lent the  manchi,  a lighter  form  of  the  former,  more  in  the  style 
of  a stretcher,  is  yet  the  common  means  of  conveyance  over 
long  distances,  especially  for  native  ladies. 

(2)  Text,  p.  227  : ‘ Karish  came  to  dinner  and  did  not  find 

his  wife  at  home.’  He  was  told,  ‘ She  is  gone  to  the  strange  man 
and  there  she  is ; he  was  very  angry,’  &c.  ‘ And  he  went  and 

bathed  and  came  back  whilst  it  was  still  light,  and  was  sitting 
and  waiting  for  Mygdonia.’  The  Greek  supports  it,  p.  57,  1.  19  ff. 

We  would  ask  the  reader  if  he  knows  of  any  country,  outside 
of  India,  where  it  is  the  custom  to  bathe  before  partaking  of  the 
evening  meal,  or  of  any  principal  meal.  He  may  perhaps  know 
that  this  is  a religious  rite  enjoined  upon  all  Hindus  in  India 
that  they  should  purify  themselves  by  such  an  ablution  before 
a meal.  Another  circumstance,  which  will  escape  the  notice 
of  such  as  are  unacquainted  with  Indian  native  habits,  is 
implied  in  the  words,  ‘ he  went  and  bathed  and  came  back 
whilst  it  was  still  light ; ’ this  implies  the  bathing  was  outside  the 
house  and  before  the  evening  meal.  Every  Hindu  of  a respect- 
able position — especially  in  Native  States — has  generally  a tank 
in  his  compound  to  which  he  resorts  for  this  ceremonial  bath  ; 
and  this  is  precisely  what  the  wording  of  the  text  implies  that 
Karish  had  done. 

(3)  A prior  instance  of  such  a bath  is  mentioned  at  p.  223  : 
‘Now  Karish,  the  kinsman  of  King  Mazdai,  had  taken  his  bath 
and  gone  to  supper.’  This  further  instance  fully  confirms  what 
we  have  inferred  ; it  is  not  a casual  bath,  but  the  religious  bath 
prescribed  by  Hindu  usage  before  the  day’s  meal.  The  in- 
stances adduced  disclose  that  we  are  dealing  with  Hinduism  ; 
that  Karish  was  a Hindu,  and  he,  being  related  to  the  king,  it  is 
a proof,  for  those  who  understand  India’s  social  life,  that  the 
king  himself  was  no  other  than  a Hindu  Rajah.  Both  points  will 
presently  be  further  confirmed  by  what  follows. 

(4)  The  text,  p.  225,  recites:  ‘And  when  it  was  morning, 
Karish,  the  kinsman  of  King  Mazdai,  arose  early  and  dressed,’ 
&c.,  ‘ and  went  to  salute  King  Mazdai.’  The  reader  has  here 
placed  before  him  the  customs  of  a Hindu  court  of  Southern 


APPENDIX 


279 


India.  Ministers,  courtiers,  and  attendants  are  all  waiting  upon 
the  Rajah  at  early  dawn  in  court.  Suitors  and  petitioners  are 
waiting  outside  the  court  premises  even  from  four  o’clock  in  the 
morning  to  place  their  petitions  and  plaints  before  the  Rajah. 
Court  business  in  fact,  in  Hindu  courts,  is  transacted  from  early 
morning  until  noon.  The  reason  why  Hindu  Rajahs  hold  court 
so  early  in  the  day  throughout  the  year  is  this — that  they  may  have 
time  to  purify  themselves  with  a bath  before  the  midday  meal. 
The  above  custom  prevails  to  this  day  in  the  Hindu  courts  of 
Malabar,  and  must,  more  or  less,  be  the  same  in  other  parts  of 
India,  where  native  Rajahs  yet  hold  court.  The  writer  is  not 
personally  acquainted  with  the  exact  customs  of  Hindu  courts  in 
Northern  India,  but  believes  they  are  much  the  same;  and  when 
he  was  present  at  an  ordinary  durbar  at  the  court  of  Jammu, 
business  was  being  transacted  in  the  morning. 

(5)  A second  similar  occurrence  in  support  of  the  court  usage 
recurs  at  p.  232  of  the  text:  ‘Whilst  Karish  was  meditating 
these  things  it  became  morning.  And  he  rose  early,  dressed,’  &c., 

‘ but  he  put  on  sorry  garments,  and  his  countenance  was  gloomy 
and  he  was  very  sad,  and  he  went  in  to  salute  King  Mazdai.’ 

Here  the  custom  of  going  to  the  Rajah’s  court  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning  is  repeated.  But  a new  detail  is  introduced — 

1 he  put  on  sorry  garments.’  What  can  this  mean  ? It  indicates 
the  Hindu  custom  that  when  a man  is  suddenly  overtaken 
by  a great  misfortune,  or  by  the  death  of  a near  relative,  anxious 
to  move  to  compassion  and  sympathy  and  to  show  his  great 
distress  to  his  superior,  whether  an  official  or  his  master,  he 
appears  before  him  in  the  garb  of  grief  and  with  an  unkempt 
appearance.  The  first  question  generally  asked  is,  What  has 
happened  to  you  ? Englishmen  who  have  dwelt  in  India,  and 
officials  oftener,  must  have  had  experience  of  this  usage  in  their 
private  or  official  dealings  with  natives.  This  comprises  the 
dress  and  the  appearance,  unkempt  and  distressed,  which  the 
person  assumes,  and  which  may  be  aptly  termed  that  of  grief. 
This  is  precisely  what  Karish  has  done ; and  in  the  king’s 
question  of  inquiry  both  the  garment  and  the  personal  appear- 
ance are  referred  to.  He  says,  ‘ What  is  the  matter  that  thou 
art  come  in  this  wretched  plight  ? And  why  is  thy  aspect  sad 
and  thy  countenance  changed  ? ’ The  Greek  supports  the  text. 
The  reader  acquainted  with  India  will  realise  that  the  customs 
described  are  purely  Hindu ; the  court  is  a Hindu  court,  Karish 


28o 


APPENDIX 


is  a Hindu,  and  his  wife  must  also  be  one.  The  latter  point  is 
confirmed  by  what  follows. 

(6)  There  is  yet  one  last  detail  of  custom  mentioned  in  the 
Acts  that  has  to  be  placed  before  the  reader.  This  is  given  in 
the  text,  p.  222.  When  Mygdonia  first  went  to  see  the  Apostle  in 
her  palki , she  ‘ sprang  up  and  came  out  of  the  palanquin  and  fell 
down  on  the  ground  before  the  feet  of  the  Apostle,  and  was 
begging  him,’  &c. 

Let  the  reader  remember  that  Mygdonia  is  a lady  of  the 
court,  related  to  the  king,  or  Rajah ; she  is  consequently  not  a 
poor,  humble  woman,  who  through  an  act  of  self-abasement 
would  seek  to  obtain  a favour,  and  may  prostrate  herself  before 
a great  man.  But  being  a lady  of  high  position,  how  could  she 
behave  in  such  manner  to  an  utter  stranger?  the  more  so  as  this 
was  the  first  time  she  had  come  in  contact  with  the  preacher  of 
this  new  doctrine.  Nothing  but  Hindu  custom  will  offer  a full 
explanation.  Any  Hindu,  man  or  woman,  who  approaches  a 
Brahman  priest,  when  not  influenced  by  the  presence  of 
Europeans,  before  addressing  him,  performs  the  same  act  of 
prostration  on  the  bare  ground  as  Mygdonia  had  done,  with 
hands  joined  forward  over  the  head,  prostrate  on  the  ground,  in 
an  act  not  only  of  supplication  but  of  semi-worship,  imploring 
a blessing  and  showing  the  deepest  veneration  for  the  person. 
The  writer  is  informed  that  in  Malabar  even  the  Hindu  Rajah 
performs  this  religious  act  to  the  chief  Brahman  priest  in  the 
temple  at  his  religious  installation  on  the  Guddee  (coronation 
ceremony),  and  when  he  attends  any  great  religious  ceremony  at 
the  temple.  But  the  act  is  now  so  performed  as  not  to  be 
visible  to  the  public.  It  is  this  act  that  the  Hindu  wife  of  Karish 
instinctively,  and  as  if  to  the  usage  quite  accustomed,  here  per- 
forms on  her  first  appearance  before  the  Apostle.  The  act,  as 
we  see,  is  the  natural  outcome  of  the  first  impulse  in  a Hindu 
woman  who  comes  before  the  high  priest  of  a new  religion  which 
has  struck  her  intelligence  and  won  her  heart. 

(7)  The  text  at  p.  265  gives  a second  instance  of  Mygdonia’s 
homage  to  the  Apostle  in  the  Hindu  form — and  this  in 
the  presence  of  her  husband  and  at  her  home : ‘ Whilst  she 
was  saying  these  things  (to  herself)  Judas  came  in,  and  she 
sprang  upright  and  prostrated  herself  to  him.’  The  description 
is  clearly  by  a narrator  who  had  seen  similar  acts  done ; she 
does  not  prostrate  herself  from  the  seated  position  in  which  she 


APPENDIX 


281 


is,  but  stands  up  and  completes  the  act,  as  those  who  have  seen 
it  performed,  know.  Then,  again,  how  does  her  husband,  with 
his  intense  animosity  against  Thomas,  take  her  behaviour?  Is  he 
surprised?  Does  he  rebuke  her?  Nothing  of  the  sort;  his 
approving  remark  to  the  Apostle  is,  ‘See,  she  feareth  thee,’ 
hoping  no  doubt  that  the  excess  of  veneration  for  Thomas  he 
had  witnessed  would  secure  his  own  object. 

(8)  A third  instance  is  also  given  at  p.  287,  performed  by 
Manashar : ‘And  when  Manashar  the  wife  of  Vizan  (the  king’s 
son)  saw  him  [Thomas  who  had  entered  her  house]  she  bowed 
down  and  worshipped  him,’  no  doubt  according  to  Hindu  religious 
usage. 


34.  Names  Mentioned  in  the  Acts 

Another  question  reserved  for  separate  treatment  is  that  of  the 
names  found  in  the  text  of  these  Acts. 

The  first  king  whose  name  occurs  in  the  narrative  is  Gondo- 
phares.  This  name  was  found  on  the  coins  belonging  to  the 
Indo-Parthian  kings,  who  reigned  over  a large  part  of  Afghanistan 
and  some  portion  of  North-Western  India;  and  in  the  inscription 
of  Takht-i-Bahi,  situated  on  the  present  borders  of  India  in  the 
ancient  Gatidhdra.  The  latter  fixed  the  date  of  the  beginning 
of  his  reign  a.d.  20-21  ; and  the  date  of  the  inscription  itself, 
the  twenty-sixth  regnal  year  of  the  King  Gondophares,  brought 
us  to  a.d.  45-46.  The  tokens  on  the  coins  of  Gondophares, 
according  to  best  numismatic  authority,  demand  a date  not  later 
than  the  middle  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  As 
Gondophares  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts,  in  close  connection  with 
the  Apostle,  and  the  former  was  reigning  from  a.d.  20-21  to 
a.d.  45-46,  and  for  what  further  period  is  unknown,  it  is  histori- 
cally quite  possible  that  the  Apostle  visited  that  portion  of  India 
during  the  reign  of  this  king.  And  since  no  other  document  has 
retained  the  mention  of  the  name  Gondophares  except,  and  solely, 
the  Acts  of  Thomas,  until  the  recent  discoveries  mentioned  above, 
it  is  quite  legitimate  to  conclude  that  the  mention  of  these  two 
names,  coupled  as  we  find  them  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  imply  a 
well-grounded  historical  connection.  The  reader  will  find  the 
question  treated  in  extenso  in  our  Chapter  I. 

In  Act  VIII.  of  the  story  quite  a large  group  of  names  is 
introduced,  and  the  name  of  the  country,  where  the  events 
described  took  place,  is  mentioned  earlier  in  the  Acts.  From 


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APPENDIX 


the  indications  that  have  been  already  culled  from  the  text,  it  has 
become  clear  we  are  dealing  with  what  not  only  was  occurring 
in  India  proper,  as  the  text  says,  but  also  with  events  concerning 
and  passing  among  Hindu  people,  and  in  a Hindu  realm.  With- 
out being  thought  guilty  of  rashness,  we  may  therefore  be  per- 
mitted to  presume  that  the  name  of  the  king  would,  or  ought 
to  be,  Indian — viz.,  Hindu — and  not  foreign,  as  in  the  previous 
case  of  Gondophares. 

Having  said  this  much,  before  entering  into  an  examination 
of  the  names  found  in  the  text,  it  will  be  very  advisable  to  sub- 
mit a few  observations.  Should  any  of  the  voyages  narrated 
by  early  travellers,  say  down  to  those  of  the  early  Arab  travellers 
of  the  eighth  or  ninth  centuries,  or  even  later,  be  taken  up,  with 
hardly  any  exception  that  we  can  recall  to  mind,  it  will  be  found 
that  they  one  and  all  scarcely  ever  introduce  personal  names  in 
the  narrative  of  peoples  or  events  they  describe.  Even  names 
of  towns  are  constantly  omitted,  rarely  in  fact  given,  except  they 
be  of  mercantile  importance  or  of  some  principal  place ; they 
may,  perhaps,  give  the  name  of  the  country. 

With  regard  to  rulers  of  countries  travelled  through,  they,  as 
a rule,  are  mentioned  in  a generic  form,  and  if  the  name  is  intro- 
duced, it  is  either  the  popular  form  of  the  name  or  a name 
coined  from  the  country,  or  the  country  is  found  named  after  the 
sovereign — instances  of  both  can  be  found  in  the  geographies  ; in 
the  one  by  Ptolemy,  and  in  that  which  goes  under  the  name  of 
the  Periplus  Maris  Erythraei.  Oftener  a generic  form  of  descrip- 
tion is  adopted  : the  ruler  is  styled  the  king,  the  khan,  the  prince, 
the  great  khan,  &c.  The  names  of  ministers  and  courtiers  with 
whom  the  traveller  has  come  in  contact  are  similarly  omitted,  and 
when  indicated  they  are  designated  by  their  office. 

Hardly  ever  does  the  personal  name  of  an  individual  appear 
in  the  narrative.  Should  the  reader  entertain  any  doubt  on  the 
subject,  we  would  refer  him  to  Yule’s  Cathay , where  he  will  find 
quite  a collection  of  early  narratives  of  this  description  down  to 
even  those  of  Christian  missionaries  in  the  Far  East.  The  only 
exceptions  we  would  make  to  the  above  statement  would  be  the 
great  Venetian,  Marco  Polo,  in  some  instances,  and  the  case  of 
Mahommedan  writers  when  they  have  met  a countryman  holding 
high  position  in  foreign  lands. 

It  may  be  asked,  Why  are  personal  names  omitted  by  early 
travellers  ? Any  one  who  has  journeyed  through  foreign  lands, 


APPENDIX 


283 


the  language  of  which  is  unknown  to  him — which  generally  is 
quite  different  to  his  own — may  fall  back  on  his  own  experience 
in  support  of  what  is  said.  The  language  being  foreign,  the 
sounds  quite  unfamiliar,  to  him  mostly  unpronounceable — unless 
he  were  to  go  about  in  the  style  of  the  modern  reporter  with  note- 
book and  pencil  in  hand- — he  is  unable  to  fix  the  sound  perma- 
nently in  his  memory ; even  should  he  chance  to  hear  the  name 
oftener  than  once,  he  is  likely  to  forget  it.  Hence,  when  a 
traveller  is  compelled  to  refer  to  individuals  of  the  country,  he 
falls  back  on  the  office  held,  or  the  service  rendered,  to  designate 
him. 

This  is  the  true  reason  why  proper  names,  even  of  rulers, 
rarely  occur  in  such  narratives,  while  those  of  individuals  hardly 
ever  appear  in  the  older  travels.  When  the  name  of  a sovereign  is 
given,  it  is  the  popular  form  of  the  name  that  occurs  oftenest,  not 
his  distinctive  personal  appellation  ; this  renders  it,  not  rarely,  a 
matter  of  considerable  historical  difficulty  to  identify  the  ruler. 

Coming  to  our  Acts,  as  to  the  names  of  female  persons  given 
in  these — Tertia,  Mygdonia,  Manashar,  and  Narkia — we  are  of 
opinion  that  they  should  be  summarily  dismissed  as  fictitious, 'and 
that  they  were  inserted  only  for  the  purpose  of  dramatising  the  tale. 
These  are  neither  Indian  nor  Hindu  names,  as  they  ought  to  be, 
if  they  were  the  proper  names  of  the  ladies  designated.  Any  one 
familiar  with  Indian  Hindu  customs  and  prejudices  is  aware  that, 
owing  to  social  opinions  of  seclusion  as  the  proper  thing  for 
women,  held  by  the  people,  and  because  of  the  usage  thence 
derived,  the  mention  of  a woman’s  name— in  the  presence  of 
foreigners  more  especially — never  occurs,  unless  while  she  is  a 
child.  For  that  matter  the  case  is  largely  the  same  throughout 
the  East.  But  servants  are,  or  may  be,  called  by  their  proper 
names.  When  a girl  becomes  a wife,  she  is  spoken  of  as  the  wife 
of  A.  (her  husband  by  his  name);  as  a mother,  she  is  called  the 
mother  of  B.  (by  her  child’s  name) ; and  if  adult  and  unmarried, 
she  is  styled  the  daughter  of  N.’s  wife.  It  is  only  among 
the  lowest  classes  in  India  that  a woman’s  name  is  heard  pro- 
nounced in  public.  These  are  immemorial,  unchangeable  customs 
and  social  usages.  The  proper  names  of  the  Indian  ladies  so 
familiarly  mentioned  in  the  narrative,  had  they  been  their  personal 
names,  would  never  have  been  heard  by  a stranger. 

On  the  general  grounds  stated  above  no  importance  should  be 
attached  to  such  names  as  Karish,  Vizan,  and  Sifur,  given  in  the 


284 


APPENDIX 


text ; they  were  introduced  to  give  a scenic  interest  to  the  narra- 
tive, as  the  heading  to  each  separate  Act  discloses.  The  text 
itself  confirms  this,  as  was  suggested  in  the  remarks  on  Act  VII. ; 
it  gave  the  story  of  the  General’s  family,  but  neither  his  personal 
name  nor  those  of  his  wife  and  daughter  were  introduced  to  the 
reader,  the  first  was  simply  designated  by  his  supposed  office.  It 
is  only  about  the  middle  of  the  following  Act,  VIII.,  when  several 
persons  appear  on  the  scene,  that  names  are  assigned  to  them. 
Then  it  occurs  to  the  embellisher  of  the  story  that  the  General 
had  no  name,  and  so  a name  is  found  for  him  and  he  is  called 
Sifur ; but  yet  he  overlooked  inserting  the  name  in  the  previous 
Act,  and  has  similarly  forgotten  to  give  names  to  the  wife  and 
daughter  when  they  take  part  in  the  scenes  of  the  next  Act,  and 
they  are  allowed  to  retain  their  original  designation  as  the  wife 
and  daughter  of  the  General.  Besides,  the  remark  occurs  again 
these  are  not  Indian  names  as  they  ought  to  be.  These  and  the 
previous  batch  of  female  names  are  foreign  to  India,  some  perhaps 
are  Persian — of  Mygdonia  the  reader  knows  the  origin,  leaving  a 
general  trace  of  the  hand  that  inserted  it. 

But  out  of  this  collection  of  names  there  survives  that  of  the 
King  Mazdai.  On  general  grounds  the  name  of  the  king  who 
ordered  the  execution  of  Thomas  ought  to  appear  in  the  Acts  of 
his  martyrdom,  and  it  would  seem  most  probable  that  his  name  was 
inserted  in  the  original  composition.  But  Mazdai  is  thoroughly 
a Persian  name,  was  borne  by  a satrap  of  Babylon  (died  b.c. 
328),  and  it  cannot  be  the  true  form  of  the  king’s  name.  This 
name  appears  under  the  following  forms:  Syriac  text,  Mazdai; 
Greek  version  MicrSaios;  both  Latin  versions,  Misdeus. 

M.  Sylvain  Levi  in  Notes  sur  les  Indo-Scythes  (No.  1 of  1897, 
ninth  series,  tom.  ix.  p.  27, Journal  Asiatic ),  section  iii.  : ‘Saint 
Thomas,  Gondophares  et  Mazdeo,’  has  worked  out  with  consider- 
able research  a theory  for  this  name.  He  starts  on  the  supposition 
that  the  Apostle  Thomas  could  have  paid  but  one  visit  to  India, 
and  finding  that  connected  with  Gondophares  in  the  north,  he  takes 
it  for  granted  that  the  sequence  of  events  given  in  the  Acts  took 
place  in  that  section  of  the  country.  In  a certain  way  the  idea 
would  naturally  suggest  itself  to  one  who  does  not  look  for  any 
other  evidence  regarding  the  Apostle  but  what  is  contained  in  the 
narrative,  and,  further,  reads  the  latter  without  the  benefit  of  a 
minute  knowledge  of  Indian  habits  and  usages.  (The  reader  is 
referred  to  the  second  part  of  Chapter  IV.) 


APPENDIX 


285 

M.  Levi’s  paper  has  appeared  in  an  English  translation  by 
Mr.  W.  R.  Philipps  in  the  Indian  Antiquary , vol.  xxxii.,  1903, 
pp.  381  ff.,  417  ff . ; and  vol.  xxxiii.,  1904,  p.  10  ff.  where  Supple- 
?nentary  Notes  to  the  above  will  be  found. 

It  will  then  be  interesting  to  hear  what  M.  Levi  has  to  say  on 
the  subject  of  the  name  Mazdai.  The  Ethiopian  version  happens 
to  give  the  name  of  King  Mazdai’s  capital,  which  is  there  named 
Quantaria.  This  reminds  him  of  Gandahara,  and  after  having 
made  a further  reference  to  the  text  as  to  the  probable  direction 
of  the  journey,  he  makes  the  ingenuous  remark,  ‘la  connaissance 
exacte  de  l’lnde  eclate  dans  les  episodes  et  les  details  des  Actes.’ 
The  opportune  arrival  of  wild  asses  to  convey  the  Apostle  on  his 
journey  with  the  General  to  King  Mazdai’s  capital  which  follows, 
lends  zest  to  the  view  adopted. 

Having  so  located  himself,  he  takes  up  the  name  of  Vasudeva, 
the  Indian  king  (one,  if  not  the  last,  of  the  dynasty  established 
by  Kanishka,  who  could  not  have  been  much  posterior  to  the 
reign  of  Gondophares,  and  this  is  the  one  good  feature  in 
M.  Levi’s  discussion),  whose  legend-bearing  coins  have  come 
down  to  us,  and  whose  name  in  Sanscrit  form  appears  in 
inscriptions  as  Vasudeva.  The  name  in  the  Greek  legends  of 
his  coins  assumes  the  following  forms  (p.  38)  BAZOAHO,  and 
BAZAHO  = Bazodeo  and  Bazdeo.  The  name  Bazdeo  passing 
under  Iranian  influences  would,  he  suggests,  easily  be  trans- 
formed into  Mazdeo,  and  the  latter  form  is  the  one,  he  continues, 
around  which  the  varying  forms  or  changes  of  the  king’s  name 
are  grouped.  So  the  Mazdai  of  the  text  of  the  Acts  is  to  him 
no  other  than  King  Vasudeva  (ut  supra,  p.  40,  end)  w'ho  reigned 
from  Kashmir. 

We  have  a couple  of  observations  to  offer  on  the  conclusions 
here  quoted.  First,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  sound  of  the  letter 
V in  the  name  Vasudeva  is,  in  Greek,  represented  by  the  letter  ft, 
for  the  Greek  alphabet  offers  no  better  correlative  sound  ; we  need 
not  enter  into  the  question  whether  beta  () 3 ) had  in  ancient  Greece 
the  same  sound  as  the  modern  Greek  gives  to  it,  making  it  the 
equivalent  of  our  v ; or  whether  the  sound  was  rather  that  of  b of 
the  Latin  alphabet.  In  either  hypothesis,  the  name  Vasuveda 
having  to  be  reproduced  in  Greek  letters,  no  other  letter  could 
replace  the  sound  of  the  v than  ft.  But  when  M.  Levi  asks  us 
to  go  further  and  to  assume  m as  an  equivalent  for  v = b,  the 
name  ‘Vasudeva,’  or  his  Bazdeo , becoming  Mazdeo , the  reader 


286 


APPENDIX 


cannot  fail  to  observe  that  quite  a new  name  is  substituted  for 
the  original.  But,  while  demurring  to  accept  this  theory  and  sub- 
stitution, we  are  glad  to  admit  that  there  is  an  important  point  of 
historical  evidence  disclosed  in  the  argument — viz.,  that  Indian 
kings  in  and  about  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  were  in 
the  habit  of  incorporating  the  epithet  of  the  divinity  with  their 
own  name,  or  of  assuming  it  absolutely  (if  they  did  not  already 
bear  the  name). 

Apart  from  the  evidence  here  produced,  we  can  offer  similar 
instances  as  to  other  kings  of  India.  In  fact,  M.  IAvi  himself 
offers  a sample  of  this  sort  in  section  i.  of  the  same  paper. 
This  section  will  be  found  in  the  first  part  of  the  paper, 
and  appeared  in  the  preceding  vol.  viii.  of  1896  (see  pp.  447, 
452,  457,  469,  and  472).  He  gives  there  translations  from 
Chinese  versions  of  Sanscrit  writings  or  poems  regarding  King 
Kanishka — the  Sanscrit  text  of  which  is  now  lost  or  at  least  has 
not  been  recovered.  The  Chinese  translations  belong  respec- 
tively to  the  years  a.d.  405,  472,  and  473  (pp.  445-447).  The 
poems  introduce  the  Scythian  Buddhist  King,  Kanishka,  in  these 
words : ‘ The  King  Devaputra  Kanishka.’  Devaputra  signifies 
‘the  child  of  god,’  or  ‘born  of  god.’  This  denotes  that,  at  an 
age  prior  to  Christianity,  the  name  of  the  divinity  was  coupled 
in  some  form  with  the  name  of  Indian  kings,  indicating  that 
this  coupling  of  names  was  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  Indian  mind 
at  that  period  that  even  the  Buddhist  Kanishka,  a foreigner,  is 
made  to  assume  it ; or,  at  all  events,  it  is  popularly  done  for 
him.  It  is  relatively  immaterial  by  which  of  the  two  above 
ways  the  appellation  was  adopted. 

It  must  further  appear  singular  that  even  the  founder  of  the 
Parthian  dynasty  in  India,  the  Maharaja  Gondophares,  who  was 
certainly  no  Indian  and  probably  had  not  embraced  the  religion 
prevailing  in  Upper  India,  should  nevertheless  find  himself  com- 
pelled to  assimilate  to  the  same  Indian  usage  of  appellation  which 
we  have  seen  attributed  to  Kanishka,  and  adopted  certainly  by  a 
successor,  Vasu-Deva ; but  it  appears  here  in  a modified  form. 
If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  coin  plate  of  this  king  (Chapter  I.) 
and  refer  to  the  Indian  legend  reproduced  in  the  text,  coin  4, 
he  will  find  that  it  reads  : Maharaja , &c.,  dramia-devavrata  | 
Gudapharasa ; Coin  8,  apratihatasa  devavratasa  Gudapharasa ; 
and  Coin  9,  a pratihatasa  deva.  . . . The  term  deva-vrata 
signifies  ‘ devoted  to  the  gods.’  It  is  clear  that,  though  Gondo- 


APPENDIX 


287 

phares  does  not  go  to  the  extreme  length,  like  Vasu-Deva,  of 
styling  himself  a ‘ Deva,’  he  yet  feels  the  necessity  of  introducing 
the  term  in  a modified  form  and  meaning  on  his  legends.  See 
E.  J.  Rapson’s  Notes  on  Indian  Coins  and  Seals,  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  April  1903,  pp.  285-286. 

Other  instances,  for  a later  period  of  kings  reigning  over 
part  of  the  former  territories  of  Gondophares  who  adopt  the 
same  usage,  are  available.  The  information  is  given  in  General 
Sir  A.  Cunningham’s  Coins  of  Mediceval  India  from  the  Seventh 
Century  down  to  the  Mahomtnedan  Conquests : London,  B.  Quaritch, 
1894,  p.  55  ; ‘Coins  of  Gandhara  and  Punjab,’  deals  with  those 
of  the  Brahman  kings  of  Cabul.  Among  these  occur  kings 
bearing  the  following  names:  (1)  Venka-Deva,  a.d.  860;  (2) 
Salapati-Deva,  a.d.  S75  ; (3)  Samanta-Deva,  a.d.  900;  (4) 
Bhima-Deva,  a.d.  945.  In  the  list  of  coins  of  the  Tomars  of 
Delhi  and  Kanuj  (p.  85)  ‘Deva’  is  again  found  joined  to  rulers’ 
names:  (5)  Salakshana-Pala-Deva,  a.d.  978-1003;  (6)  Ajaya- 
Pala-Deva,  a.d.  1019-1049  ; (7)  Ananga-Pala-Deva,  a.d.  1049- 
1079;  (8)  Someswara-Deva,  a.d.  1162-1166;  (9)  Prithri  Raja- 
Deva,  a.d.  1166-1192.  Similar  instances  also  occur  in  the  list 
of  the  Tomars  of  Kanuj.  The  Sanscrit  word  Neva  has  the 
same  meaning  as  Divus  and  Dens  in  Latin. 

There  is  forthcoming  also  from  quite  a different  part  of 
India  evidence  of  the  prevalence  of  this  Hindu  custom  even  at  a 
posterior  age.  Marco  Polo  (Yule’s  2nd  ed.,  vol.  ii.  p.  348) 
writes  of  the  Kingdom  of  Mutfili,  which  Yule  says  applies  to 
Telingana,  or  the  kingdom  of  which  Warangol  was  the  capital; 
Mutfili,  a port  of  the  same,  was  visited  by  the  Venetian,  and  in 
the  language  probably  of  traders  he  names  the  kingdom  after 
the  port  instead  of  as  more  commonly  by  its  capital.  ‘The 
kingdom,’  he  says,  ‘was  formerly  under  the  rule  of  a king,  and 
from  his  death  some  forty  years  ago  it  has  been  under  [the  rule 
of]  his  queen,  a lady  of  much  discretion,  who  for  the  great  love 
she  bore  him  would  never  marry  another  husband.’  Yule  adds 
that  the  king’s  name  was  Kakateya  Prataba  Ganapati  Rudra- 
Deva.  The  name  Rudra-Deva  means  Sun-god.  The  queen’s 
grandson  was  Prataba  Vira  Rudra-Deva,  c.  a.d.  1295,  ar)d  he  is 
called  by  Ferishta,  the  historian  of  Akbar  the  Great,  Ludder-Deo. 
Here  are  two  kings  of  the  peninsula  of  India  styled  ‘ Deva,’  of 
which  the  popular,  or  abbreviated  form,  is  Deo,  the  same  as  was 
found  to  be  the  case  in  Upper  India  at  a more  remote  period, 


288 


APPENDIX 


in  the  case  namely  of  Vasu-Deva,  which  name  in  its  time  was 
popularly  rendered  Bazdeo  or  Vasdeo,  according  to  pronunciation. 

Again,  Wilson  ( Catalogue  of  Mackenzie' s Collection , Madras 
reprint,  1882,  p.  77)  treating  of  the  kings  of  the  above  line, 
writes:  ‘Rudra-Deva,  to  expiate  the  crime  of  killing  his  father, 
built  a vast  number  of  temples,  a thousand,  it  is  said,  chiefly  to 
Siva,’  &c.  ‘ After  some  time  his  brother  Mahadeva  rebelled, 

defeated  him  in  battle  and  slew  him,  and  assumed  the  direction 
of  affairs.  He  left  to  the  son  of  Rudra  the  title  Yuva  Raja,  heir 
and  partner  of  the  kingdom.  Mahadeva  lost  his  life  in  war 
with  the  Raja  of  Devagiri.  Gunapati-Deva,  the  son  of  Rudra, 
succeeded,  and  gives  the  name  to  the  family,  who  as  Kakateya 
Rajahs,  are  often  termed  “ Gunapati We  have  here  a plain 
and  simple  narrative  of  a dynasty  of  Rajahs  bearing  the  name 
Deva  in  the  southern  portion  of  India,  similar  to  what  we  have 
already  seen  was  also  the  case  in  Cabul  and  elsewhere.  This 
name  ‘ Deva  ’ becomes  popularly  abbreviated  into  Deo,  and  one 
of  these  Rajahs  was  also  found  named  Maha-Deva,  whose  name 
on  the  same  grounds  would  be  popularly  contracted  into  Mahdeo. 

Here  the  reader  should  be  informed  that  Siva,  a member  of 
the  Indian  trinity,  is  the  special  divinity  greatly  venerated  in 
Southern  India,  so  that  the  majority  of  ancient  shrines  and 
temples  are  dedicated  to  Siva  under  one  or  another  of  his 
various  titles.  The  worship,  however,  of  Siva  was  by  no  means 
restricted  to  Southern  India,  for  Gondophares’  coin  (see  plate), 
No.  4,  on  reverse  bears  the  image  of  Siva  (see  also  E.  J.  Rapson 
ut  Sllpr.,  p.  285).  He  is  besides  Kara  avToro/xacriav  the 
Mahadeva,  ‘ the  Great  God  ’ in  Southern  India.  This  name  is 
borne  by  Hindus,  and  it  is  not  uncommonly  heard  in  the  streets 
as  a personal  appellation. 

Now  if  the  name  Mahadeo  be  passed  through  Iranian  mouths, 
it  will  probably  assume  the  form  of  ‘Masdeo’;  owing  to 
similarity  of  sound  with  the  Iranian  name,  Mazdai,  the  sibilant 
would  be  introduced,  and  the  outcome  of  Mahadeo  or  Madeo 
would  be  Masdeo,  and  would  appear  in  Syriac  as  Mazdai : 
the  Greek  version  reads  Mio-Saios,  the  older  Latin  Misdeus  and 
Mesdeus,  and  from  this  De  Miraculis  would  borrow  it.  These 
forms  would  represent,  approximately,  the  name  of  the  Indian 
king  who  condemned  the  Apostle  to  death,  and  so  would  re- 
produce the  characteristic  divine  epithet  deva  as  well,  retained  in 
the  abbreviated  Indian  form,  Mahdeo. 


APPENDIX 


289 

The  point  need  not  be  forced,  we  will  leave  it  to  the  reader  to 
assimilate  the  idea  and  judge  of  its  probability  on  the  strength 
of  the  parallel  evidence  adduced. 

35.  Date  of  the  Acts 

When  treating  of  the  Eucharistic  celebration  (see  Nos.  30  and 
31)  we  produced  two  quotations  from  the  text — ‘ a mingled  draught 
in  a cup,’  and  ‘ the  mingled  cup,’  we  then  said  they  were  reserved 
for  separate  treatment ; they  were  also  found  supported  by  the 
Greek  version  when  neither  of  the  Latin  translations  — both 
abbreviations — contained  any  trace  of  the  same.  Considerable 
importance,  in  our  opinion,  is  to  be  attached  to  the  use  of  the 
phraseology.  In  the  first  place,  it  indicates  that  the  age  of  the 
writing  takes  us  back  to  the  period  when  the  disciplina  Arcani,  or 
the  lex  Arcani , regarding  the  mention  of  Christian  mysteries, 
and  more  especially  the  Holy  Eucharist,  prevailed.  In  the 
second  place,  the  phrase  is  one  that  belongs  to  the  sub-apostolic 
age,  reserved  to  express  and  denote  the  celebration  of  the 
Eucharist,  or  the  holy  mass  ; yet  so,  that  while  understood  by 
the  faithful  it  was  meaningless  to  the  outsider.  In  proof  of  what 
we  assert  we  shall  introduce  the  reader  to  a safe  authority,  that 
of  Abercius,  Bishop  of  Hieropolis,  in  Phrygia  Salutaris. 

In  the  metric  epitaph  composed  by  the  bishop — which 
belongs  to  the  early  date  a.d.  180-191 — an  expression  parallel 
to  that  quoted  above  is  found  employed  to  designate  the 
Eucharistic  celebration.  The  inscription  itself  was  known  long 
ago,  for  it  is  attached  to  a life  of  Saint  Abercius  in  the  Greek 
Passionales,  and  many  MSS  containing  it  are  found  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris,  and  in  the  Vatican  library. 
Tillemont,  however,  rejected  it ; and  in  our  days  every  attempt 
has  been  made,  by  Ficker  in  1894,  by  Harnack  in  1895,  and  by 
Dieterich  in  1896,  to  explain  it  away  as  anything  but  a Christian 
record,  just  as  many  another  ecclesiastical  document  had  been 
treated,  under  a cloud  of  misapplied  scientific  erudition,  but 
the  native  truth  of  its  authenticity  enabled  it  to  triumph  over  all 
attempts  to  suppress  it.  It  now  becomes  evident  that  the 
writer  of  the  Saint’s  life  had  a fair  copy  of  the  inscription  before 
him,  if  he  did  not  write  the  life  on  the  spot  where  the  tomb 
stood.  The  copy  that  is  attached  to  the  life,  though  faulty  in 
passages,  yet  in  substance  is  now  ascertained  to  be  accurate,  and 

T 


290 


APPENDIX 


has  been  confirmed  by  the  discoveries  of  the  original  epitaph, 
and  of  one  of  Alexander,  moulded  on  the  former,  of  the 
year  216. 

By  good  luck  Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay  recovered  in  1882  the 
epitaph  of  Alexander  of  Hieropolis,  the  son  of  Antony,  which 
he  published  the  same  year.  This  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
late  ecclesiastical  archseologist,  De  Rossi,  and  he  suggested  that 
the  tomb  of  Abercius  could  not  be  far  off,  as  the  epitaph  of 
Alexander  closely  imitated  the  lines  of  the  known  epitaph  of 
Abercius.  On  a subsequent  expedition  of  research,  in  1883, 
Professor  Ramsay  alighted  on  two  fragments  of  the  original 
inscription  of  Abercius. 

This  had  been  engraved  on  three  faces  of  a sepulchral  cippus 
of  white  marble,  the  fourth  bearing  a crown  and  foliage.  The 
cippus,  according  to  the  recital,  stood  over  the  tomb  itself, 
and  must  have  occupied  the  centre  of  a chamber,  or  open 
space.  On  the  occasion  of  the  Episcopal  Jubilee  of  Leo  XIII., 
1892,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  made  a present  of  this  most  ancient 
relic  of  Christian  epigraphy  to  the  Pope.  Later  the  Professor 
kindly  sent  over  the  smaller  fragment  as  well  which  he  had 
removed  to  Scotland.  The  whole  is  now  set  up  in  the  ‘ Christian 
Museum  ’ at  the  Lateran  Palace,  holding  also  those  discovered 
in  the  Roman  Catacombs. 

The  translation  of  the  Syriac  expression  given  by  Dr. 
Wright  agrees  with  that  used  by  Abercius  in  his  epitaph,  as  we 
said.  The  quotation  we  give  was  first  taken  from  H.  Maruchi’s 
L’Elements  d’A rcheologie  Chretietine  (General  Notions),  Paris, 
1899,  p.  296,  but  it  has  been  compared  with  that  given  in  the 
article,  ‘ Abercius,’  by  Dom  H . Leclercq,  Diction?iaire  td  A rcheologie 
Chretienne  et  de  Liturgie,  Paris  1893,  edited  by  Dom  Fernand 
Cabrol,  of  which  the  first  six  fasciculi  are  now  published. 
The  article  reproduces  the  Greek  original  reconstructed  on  the 
text  given  by  the  fragments  discovered,  with  a large  plate  re- 
producing the  recovered  fragments.  The  print  shows  distinctly 
what  has  been  recovered  from  the  fragments,  and  what  is  con- 
firmed by  Alexander’s  epitaph  ; to  this  is  added  a Latin  translation, 
which  is  quoted  below.  The  article  treats  most  elaborately  all 
questions  concerning  this  early  epitaph,  and  supplies  a complete 
list  of  literature  on  the  subject. 

Abercius,  speaking  in  his  own  person,  tells  us  he  ordered 
his  tomb,  dictated  the  inscription,  was  a follower  of  the  Shepherd, 


APPENDIX 


291 

visited  Rome,  passed  through  the  cities  of  Syria,  went  beyond 
the  Euphrates,  saw  Nisibis  ; then  continues  : — 

Fides  vero  ubique  mihi  dux  fuit 
Praebuitque  ubique  cibum,  piscem  e fonte 
Ingentem,  purum,  quern  prehendit  virgo  casta 
Deditque  amicis  perpetuo  edendum, 

Vinum  optimum  habens  ministrans  mixtum  cum  pane. 
Haec  adstans  dictavi  Abercius  heic  conscribenda 
Annum  agens  septuagesimum  et  (vere)  secundum  &c. 

The  expression  mixtum  reproduces  the  Greek  Kepao-pa. 
(vinum  aquae ) of  the  original — the  ‘ mingled  draught,’  or 
‘ mingled  cup  ’ of  the  Acts,  used  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Eucharist.  Etienne  (Henricus  Stephanus)  in  his  Thesaur.  Gr. 
Linguae  (ed.  Dindorff,  Paris,  1841)  has  ad  voc. — Kepacrpa, 
‘ Mixtura ; de  mixtura  vini  Eustathius ; item  mixtura  aquae 
frigidae  et  calidae.’ 

The  entire  epitaph  is  enigmatic,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of 
the  Tex  Arcani.’  The  reader  may  perhaps  know  that  under 
the  emblem  piscis — the  fish — Christ  is  symbolised,  as  shown  by 
several  mural  paintings  found  in  the  Roman  Catacombs.  A 
similar  allusion  to  Ichthys-piscis  is  found  in  the  epitaph  of 
Pectorius  of  Autun  quoted  by  Leclercq,  ibid.,  col.  83.  The 
‘mixed’  or  ‘mingled  cup  ’ denotes  the  consecrated  element  of 
wine  slightly  mixed  with  water,  as  is  used  to  this  day  in  the 
Catholic  Church  ; and  the  panis , ‘ bread,’  represents  the  body. 

The  coincidence  of  the  ancient  expression  found  in  the  epitaph 
of  Abercius  and  repeated  in  the  Syriac  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas 
justifies  us  in  seeing  therein  a trace  of  an  original  remnant  of  the 
earlier  text,  sufficient  to  conclude  on  this  ground  what  the  writer  of 
the  article  ‘Thomas’  says  on  his  own  account  (Hastings’s  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  Edinburgh,  1902,  vol.  iv.)  that  ‘the  Acta  Thomae 
is  a work  probably  going  back  to  the  second  century.’  The 
writer  speaks  of  it  as  of  Gnostic  origin,  but  the  reader  will 
have  found  sufficient  evidence  to  consider  it  instead  only 
subjected  to  very  extensive  interpolation  and  adaptation  for 
Gnostic  purposes,  yet  so  that  all  trace  of  the  original  text  has 
not  disappeared.  Fortunately  a German  scholar,  who  has  made 
a special  study  of  Gnostic  writings  and  is  considered  a great 
authority  on  the  subject,  von  Carl  Schmidt  (Die  alten  Petrusakten 
im  Zusammenhang der  Apocryphen  Apostellitteratur,  Leipzig,  1903) 


292 


APPENDIX 


has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  of  the  Acts  of  Peter,  Paul,  John, 
Thomas,  and  Andrew,  which  in  the  time  of  Photius  were  attributed 
to  Lucius  Charinus,  all,  even  those  of  John,  are  by  more  or  less 
orthodox  Catholics  ; certainly  none  are  of  Gnostic  origin  (p.  129) : 
Der  gnostiche  Apostelroman,  he  says,  ist  fur  mich  ein  Phantom — 

‘ In  my  opinion  a Gnostic  romance  [Acts]  of  the  Apostles  is  a 
phantom.’  It  is  satisfactory  to  find  others  coming  to  the  views 
we  hold. 

The  passages  ‘a  mingled  draught  in  a cup  ’ (text,  p.  258), 
and  the  ‘mingled  cup’  (p.  290)  we  maintain  are  survivals  of  the 
primitive  writing  ; for  since  the  Gnostic  sects  abhorred  wine  and 
did  not  use  it  in  their  celebration  * of  the  mysteries,’  it  becomes 
undeniable  that  these  expressions  were  not  inserted  by  them. 
Besides  the  use  of  wine  and  bread  on  the  above  two  occasions, 
the  use  is  also  mentioned  at  a third  celebration  on  p.  268 ; these 
offer  ample  evidence  that  the  expressions  have  come  down  to  us 
from  the  original  text  in  which  they  stood  before  Gnostic 
manipulation  took  place — and  this  proof  of  itself  would  be 
sufficient  to  fix  the  date  of  the  composition  as  anterior  to  the 
development  which  it  now  presents — to  the  latter  portion,  at  least, 
of  the  second  century. 

Perhaps  the  reader  would  like  to  see  a quotation  of  the  oft- 
repeated  phrase,  as  used  half  a century  later,  by  another  bishop, 
St.  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  a.d.  250-268.  The  extract  we  are 
going  to  give  is  taken  from  a lesson  of  the  office  for  the  octave 
of  Corpus  Christi ; Epist.  ad  Caecilium : — 

Ut  ergo  in  Genesi  per  Melchisedech  sacerdotem  benedictio 
circa  Abraham  posset  rite  celebrari,  praecedit  ante  imago  sacri- 
ficii,  in  pane  et  vino  scilicet  constituta.  Quam  rem  perficiens,  et 
adimplens  Dominus  panem  et  calicem  mixtum  vino  obtulit : et 
qui  est  plenitudo,  veritatem  praefiguratae  imaginis  adimplevit. 

36.  The  Martyrdom 

We  now  pass  on  to  the  closing  section  of  the  Acts,  the 
martyrdom. 

The  narrative  of  the  Acts  was  interrupted  at  the  point  where 
the  Apostle  Thomas  was  remanded  to  prison  after  the  one 
ordeal  mentioned  in  the  text.  We  found  him  administering 
baptism  to  the  last  of  his  converts  while  detained  in  prison. 

The  king  ordered  Thomas  to  oe  brought  up  for  judgment. 


APPENDIX 


293 


Mazdai  questioned  him  whence  he  came  and  who  was  his  master. 
The  king  hesitated  what  sentence  he  would  pass,  or  rather  how 
he  should  compass  his  death  without  causing  popular  excitement. 
The  reason  for  his  hesitation  is  given,  ‘ because  he  was  afraid  of 
the  great  multitude  that  was  there  ; for  many  believed  in  our 
Lord,  and  even  some  of  the  nobles.’  So  Mazdai  took  him  out 
of  town,  to  a distance  of  about  half  a mile,  and  delivered  him  to 
the  guard  under  a prince  with  the  order,  ‘ Go  up  on  this  moun- 
tain and  stab  him.’  On  arriving  at  the  spot  the  Apostle  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  pray,  and  this  was  granted  at  the  request  of 
Vizan,  the  king’s  son,  one  of  the  two  last  converts.  Arising 
from  his  prayer,  Thomas  bid  the  soldiers  approach  and  said, 
‘ Fulfil  the  will  of  him  who  sent  you.’  ‘ And  the  soldiers  came 
and  struck  him  all  together,  and  he  fell  down  and  died.’ 

The  burial  is  described  in  the  following  words  : ‘ And  they 
brought  goodly  garments  and  many  linen  cloths,  and  buried 
Judas  in  the  sepulchre  in  which  the  ancient  kings  were  buried.’ 

The  narrative  also  states  that  the  grave  was  opened  in  the 
king’s  lifetime  and  by  his  orders,  when  the  bones  were  not  found, 

‘ for  one  of  the  brethren  had  taken  them  away  secretly  and  con- 
veyed them  to  the  West.’ 

The  Greek  version  and  the  Latin  De  Miraculis  generally 
agree  with  the  text,  but  both  say,  as  to  the  manner  of  death 
inflicted,  ‘ four  soldiers  pierced  him  with  lances.’  As  to  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  Apostle’s  bones,  the  former  says  : ‘ One  of  the 
brethren  having  stolen  him,  removed  him  to  Mesopotamia.’  The 
latter  is  more  explicit  : ‘ Quoniam  reliquias  sancti  apostoli  quidam 
de  fratribus  rapuerunt  et  in  urbe  Edissa  a nostris  sepultus  est  ’ — 
this  tells  us  the  removal  was  to  Edessa,  where  the  Apostle’s 
bones  were  again  buried. 

The  Passio  places  the  death  at  a different  period,  and  assigns 
its  occurrence  to  quite  a different  cause,  as  shown  in  No.  32. 
The  same  is  made  to  take  place  immediately  after  the  miraculous 
destruction  of  the  idol  : ‘ The  priests  raised  a howl,  and  the 
chief  priest  of  the  temple  seizing  a sword  transfixed  the  Apostle, 
exclaiming,  “I  will  avenge  the  insults  to  my  god.’”  As  to 
the  removal  of  the  bones  from  India  it  also  gives  a different 
version  : ‘ The  Syrians  begged  of  the  Roman  emperor  Alexander 
[Severus,  a.d.  222-235],  then  on  his  victorious  return  from  the 
Persian  war  against  Xerxes  [Ardashir],  and  petitioned  that 
instructions  should  be  sent  to  the  princes  of  India  to  hand 


294 


APPENDIX 


over  the  remains  of  the  deceased  [Apostle]  to  the  citizens.  So 
it  was  done  ; and  the  body  of  the  Apostle  was  transferred  from 
India  to  the  city  of  Edessa.’ 

37.  The  Removal  of  the  Apostle’s  Relics  from  India 

A few  general  remarks  are  demanded  by  the  differences  dis- 
closed between  the  text  and  the  Passio.  The  difference  on  two 
points  is  radical.  The  local  tradition  of  Mylapore  (see  Chapter 
IV.)  coincides  with  the  text  that  the  Apostle  was  put  to  death  on 
the  great  Mount  St.  Thomas,  while  Passio  makes  it  occur  sud- 
denly, and  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  what  would  be  a Brahman 
priest. 

As  to  the  removal  of  the  relics  to  Edessa,  the  text  and  the 
versions  agreeing  with  it,  the  Greek  and  Be  Miraculis,  say  it 
occurred  during  the  lifetime  of  King  Mazdai,  while  Passio  dis- 
tinctly asserts  it  to  have  taken  place  long  after,  viz.,  after  the 
close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  third  century.  We  shall  find 
that  the  version  given  by  Passio  will  demand  acceptance,  while 
that  by  the  text  is  inadmissible. 

The  Apostle  would  probably  have  lived  considerably  past  the 
middle  of  the  first  century  before  he  could  have  completed  the 
mission  assigned  to  him.  Keeping  this  in  mind,  we  will  place 
before  the  reader  all  the  available  historical  data  to  show  exactly 
on  what  basis  the  question  can  be  solved. 

According  to  historical  data,  Abgar  V.,  surnamed  Ukkama 
(the  Black)  King  of  Edessa — to  whom  the  Apostle  Thomas  had 
deputed  his  colleague  the  Apostle  Thaddeus  (see  No.  7),  con- 
firmed, as  explained  above,  by  Eusebius  and  the  Doctritie  of 
Addai  ( infr .),  and  whose  conversion  after  the  miraculous  cure  we 
uphold — reigned,  during  his  second  term,  from  a.d.  13  to  a.d.  50, 
which  gives  a period  of  thirty-seven  years  and  one  month  (see 
Duval’s  Edesse,  pp.  48-50).  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Manu  V.,  who  reigned  for  seven  years,  to  a.d.  57  ; he  again  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Manu  VI.,  who  reigned  for  fourteen 
years,  down  to  a.d.  71.  It  is  during  this  third  reign  that 
Aggai,  mentioned  in  the  Doctrine  of  Addai  (Philipps,  p.  39),  was 
put  to  death  by  the  prince  (pp.  48-49) : ‘ And  years  after  the 
death  of  Abgar  (Ukkama)  the  king,  one  of  his  rebellious  sons 
who  was  not  obedient  to  the  truth,  arose  and  sent  word  to 
Aggai,’  &c.  ‘ And  when  he  saw  that  he  did  not  obey  him,  he 


APPENDIX 


295 


sent  and  broke  his  legs,  as  he  was  sitting  in  the  church  and 
expounding.’  This  discloses  that  after  the  new  faith  had  been 
followed  by  Abgar  and  his  son  Manu  V.,  after  the  year  57,  when 
Manu  VI.  obtained  power,  he  not  only  rejected  the  faith — if  he 
had  ever  accepted  it — but  started  an  open  persecution  against 
the  nascent  church,  and  killed  the  chief  priest  or  bishop  who 
then  presided  over  it.  As  his  reign  was  prolonged  to  fourteen 
years,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Abgar  VI.,  who  reigned 
for  twenty  years,  down  to  a.d.  91,  and  would  have  been  a 
heathen  like  his  father,  the  faith  that  had  commenced  to  bud 
would  in  all  probability  have  been  crushed  out  under  persecution, 
to  revive  at  some  later  date. 

Now,  had  the  remains  of  the  Apostle  come  to  Edessa  during 
the  reign  of  Abgar  Ukkama,  or  the  short  reign  of  his  son  Manu  V. 
(whose  conversion,  together  with  that  of  his  father  is  mentioned, 
see  Addai,  p.  31  and  note  a),  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  it 
would  have  been  loudly  proclaimed  by  Edessan  scribes  and  by 
St.  Ephraem.  It  not  having  taken  place  then,  we  may  assume 
that  the  ground  at  Edessa  would  not  again  have  been  ready 
for  such  removal  until  Abgar  IX.  had  ascended  the  throne, 
and  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  He  reigned  thirty- 
five  years  (a.d.  179-214).  Besides  this  local  improbability, 
there  arises  another  objection.  The  route  from  India  vid 
the  Euphrates  was  not  open  to  dwellers  within  the  circle  or 
bounds  of  the  Roman  empire  except  after  Trajan’s  expedition, 
a.d.  114-116  (Mommsen,  Rcmische  Geschichte,  vol.  v.  p.  395  ; see 
also  Duval’s  Edesse,  p.  53);  and  again  after  the  victory  of  Alex- 
ander Severus  (see  date  given  above)  over  the  Persians.  So  the 
removal,  said  to  have  taken  place  during  the  lifetime  of  Mazdai, 
must  be  summarily  rejected  as  untenable. 

Abgar  IX.,  mentioned  above,  styled  on  his  coins  MeyaAos, 
after  his  return  from  Rome — which  is  by  Gutschmidt  ( Unter- 
suchungen  iiber  die  Geschichte  des  Kcenigsreichs  Osrohcene) placed  not 
earlier  than  202 — embraced  the  faith.  This  would  be  the  second 
time  that  the  ruler  in  Edessa  submitted  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  The  details  of  this  conversion  have  unfortunately  not 
come  down  to  us.  This  is  the  same  Abgar  of  whom  the  compiler 
of  the  Chron.  Edessen.  (Guidi,  Chrofiica  Alinora,  p.  3,  1.  15  f.), 
quoting  from  the  city  archives,  says  that  he  witnessed  the  great 
flood  that  destroyed  the  walls  and  a great  part  of  the  city  in 
November,  201  : ‘ Abgarus  rex  stans  in  magna  turri,  quae  Persarum 


296 


APPENDIX 


vocatur,  aquam  (exundantem)  collucentibus  facibus  conspexit  ’ — 
the  Chronicle  includes  among  the  buildings  destroyed,  the 
‘ temple  of  the  Christians  ’ — 1 in  templum  aedis  sacrae  christian- 
orum  (aquae)  irrupuerunt.’  The  document  from  which  the 
details  of  the  great  flood  were  taken  is  an  attested  notarial 
document  which  had  been  placed  in  the  archives  of  the  city  of 
Edessa ; the  wording  shows  that  at  that  period  the  State  was  still 
pagan  although  there  existed  a church  within  the  city. 

Eusebius  [Hist.  Eccl. , lib.  v.  cap.  xxiii.  col.  490-491,  Migne, 
P.  Gr.-L.  tom.  xx.,  Eusebii,  tom.  ii.),  supplies  an  earlier  date  for 
the  existence  of  churches  in  Osrhoena.  Writing  of  the  Synods 
which  were  held  in  the  West  and  in  the  East  in  the  days  of  Pope 
Victor,  a.d.  192-202,  regarding  the  celebration  of  Easter,  he 
adds  : There  were  also  Synods  held  ‘ in  Osroene  and  in  the 
cities  of  that  country  ’ of  which  synodal  letters  exist.  Mansi 
[Concilia,  tom.  i.  col.  727),  in  the  Ex  libello  Synodico , which  con- 
tains in  brief  a collection  of  principal  synods  held  on  this  ques- 
tion, gives  the  following  : Osroena.  Synodus  provincialis  in 
Osroene,  cui  Edessa  et  Adiabenorum  regio  subjacet,  collecta 
episcopis  octodecim,  quorum  praeses  memoriae  traditus  non  est : 
de  sancto  pascha  idem  statuens,  Commodo  imperante  [a.d.  180- 
192].  A double  entry  of  this  Synod,  differing  slightly  in  word- 
ing, is  given,  and  a comparison  of  the  two  will  show  them  to 
have  been  the  same  and  not  separate  Synods.  M.  Duval  [Edesse, 
p.  1 14,  note)  has  arrived  at  a wrong  conclusion  on  this  point,  based 
on  the  grounds  that  Mesopotamia  was  not  divided  into  two 
provinces  until  349,  under  Constantius,  and  rejects  the  synodical 
ruling  as  spurious.  In  reality  the  question  of  the  division  of 
Mesopotamia  into  two  separate  provinces  has  no  bearing  on 
the  case;  besides,  the  second  province  under  Constantius  had 
Amida  for  its  capital  and  not  Adiabene.  There  is  no  distinction 
implying  two  provinces  in  either  of  the  synodical  entries  : one 
mentions  the  number  of  bishops,  the  other  does  not ; one  is 
spoken  of  as  the  provincial  council  of  Mesopotamia,  the  other 
as  of  Osroene  ; both  names  were  applicable  to  the  same  pro- 
vince. Even  after  the  time  of  Constantius,  Socrates,  the  Church 
historian,  writes  of  Edessa  as  being  in  Mesopotamia  [Hist.  Eccl., 
lib.  iv.  cap.  xviii.,  Migne,  P.  Gr.-L.,  tom.  lxvii.  ; the  quotation  is 
given  in  Chapter  IV.  p.  105).  The  data  obtained  from  Eusebius 
and  the  Osroene  Synod  (a.d.  192-197)  show  that  there  were 
assembled  bishops  and  rectors  of  churches  to  the  number  of 


APPENDIX 


297 


eighteen  before  the  close  of  the  second  century.  But  Christianity- 
had  not  yet  become  the  adopted  religion  of  the  country,  neither 
had  the  court  or  the  wealthier  classes  joined  it.  It  would  only 
be  after  the  conversion  of  Abgar  IX.,  after  a.d.  202,  when  influ- 
ence and  wealth  were  at  the  command  of  the  Church,  that  a 
merchant  would  be  forthcoming  who  could  have  brought  to  his 
native  city  the  relics  of  the  Apostle.  When  a few  years  later, 
Alexander  Severus  reopened  the  door  of  Eastern  commerce  to 
the  empire  via  the  Euphrates,  it  is  then  that  we  have  all  the  con- 
ditions required  for  such  a transfer.  Edessa  was  then  thoroughly 
Christian,  the  trade  route  to  India  was  opened,  peace  would 
facilitate  commerce,  and  backed  by  wealth  the  citizen  of  Edessa, 
‘ Khabin,’  trading  with  India,  was  able  to  bring  the  precious 
Relics  to  Edessa  (for  evidence  see  Chapter  II.,  note  p.  23).  It 
is  only  then  that  this  transfer  was  practicable. 

Some  writers  have  fixed  upon  the  year  232  as  that  of  the 
removal,  Lipsius  among  others,  but  there  are  no  further  data 
available  to  fix  the  time  with  precision.  The  transfer  would 
probably  have  been  between  the  dates  222-235,  or  a little  later; 
but  it  cannot  be  placed  after  241,  for  in  that  year  Ardashir  (the 
Xerses  of  the  Passio),  accompanied  by  his  son  Sapor  (Duval, 
Edesse,  p.  70),  invaded  Mesopotamia  and  threatened  Antioch, 
so  the  trade  route  to  India  by  the  Euphrates  was  once  again 
closed  to  commerce,  and  continued  so  for  a long  subsequent 
period. 

As  to  such  details  as  that  the  body  was  buried  in  linen  cloths 
and  was  interred  in  the  tomb  of  the  ancient  kings,  they  are  mere 
specimens  of  faulty  information  or  incongruous  ideas  introduced 
into  the  narrative.  In  the  India  of  those  days  linen  cloths 
would  not  be  readily  forthcoming  ; and  as  to  tombs  of  Hindu 
kings — for  such  they  would  have  been  were  the  details  accurate 
— there  never  were  any  to  receive  the  holy  remains  of  the 
Apostle,  for  Hindu  rite  has  rigorously  prescribed  from  all  time 
the  cremation  of  the  dead. 


INDEX 


A T.B. — The  Index  does  not  incorporate  the  Appendix. 


Abdagases,  King,  nephew  of  Gon- 
dophares,  4 

Abgar,  King  of  Edessa,  1 10 
Abyssinia,  178,  187,  188,  202 
Achadabu.es,  18 
Adana  (Aden),  194  and  note 
Adda,  disciple  of  Manes,  208 
Ado,  Martyrology,  65 
Aethalstan.  81,  82 
Aezana,  Prince  of  Auxum  (Abyssinia), 
186 

Alexander,  monk  of  Cyprus,  on  the 
Gospel  found  on  the  body  of  St. 
Barnabas,  181 

Alexander  Severus,  Emperor,  101, 
102 

Alfred  the  Great,  embassy  to  St. 

Thomas’s  shrine  in  India,  80-84 
Ambrose,  St.,  43  and  note 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  20,  190 
Amr',  son  of  Matthew,  96 
Andrew,  Abp.  of  Crete,  note  148 
Aramaic,  language,  1 74-1 75 
Archelaus,  Bp.  of  Kaskar,  205  ff. 
Ardashir.  See  Xerses 
Arghan,  Khan  of  Persia,  88 
Assemani,  J.  S.,  34,  97,  99,  102,  note 
131-132,  177 

Asser,  Bp.  of  Sherborne,  82 

Assumption  of  the  B.  V.  Mary,  note 
148-149 

Asterius,  Metropolitan  of  Amesia,  1 19 
Athanasius,  St.,  182,  note  184,  185, 
186 

Auxum.  201 
Auxumitae,  196,  201 

Bab-el-Mandeb,  Straits  of,  196 
Bagdad,  97,  136 


Bardaisan,  21 

Barhebraeus,  18,  34,  104,  152 
Barnabas,  St.,  and  the  Gospel  of  St. 

Matthew,  180-182 
Baronius,  65 

Bartholomew,  the  Apostle,  81,  82; 
his  mission  to  Arabia  Felix,  177, 
178,  179,  182 
Basil,  Emperor,  65,  124 
Bede,  St.,  the  Venerable,  48,  62,  63, 
64,  153,  161 
Bedjan,  Rev,  P.,  101 
Benedict  XII.,  Pope,  94 
Bickell,  21,  22 
Butler,  Alban,  66 

Calamina,  64,  98  ; the  name  investi- 
gated, 150-161 

Calendar  (Ecclesiastical)  Roman,  49- 
52  ; ancient  Nestorian,  23  ; Syrian, 
38  ; Jacobite  Syrian,  40  ; Nestorian, 
41  ; Greek,  65-68  ; Ethiopian,  68  ; 
Roman  civil,  49,  75 
Cannanore,  the  Rajah,  or  Bebee  of, 
192 

Caracalla,  Antoninus,  Emperor,  172 
Carmania.  See  Karman 
Cassiodorus,  56 
Chios,  island  of,  1 1 3,  114,  115 
Chronicle,  Anglo  - Saxon,  80  ; of 
Florence  of  Worcester,  82 ; of 
William  of  Malmesbury,  83 
Chronicon  Edessenum,  note  27,  103, 
105 

Chrysostom,  St.  John,  46,  and  note 
107 

Clement,  of  Alexandria,  120,  121,  172 
Commodus,  Emperor,  172 
Constantine  the  Great,  190 


299 


300 


INDEX 


Constantine  Porphorogenitus,  65 

Constantins,  Emperor,  185,  note  1 86— 
187,  188 

Cordier,  M.  Henri,  note  87,  note 
95-96 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  136,  155, 
160,  196,  197,  198,  201 
Conti.  See  Nicolo 
Council  of  Nice,  155 
Cranganore,  133,  134,  148 
Ctesiphon,  St.  Mares,  Bp.  of,  36. 

See  Seleucia-Ctesiphon 
Cunningham,  General,  Sir  Alexander, 
3-5 ; reads  Takht-i-Bahi  inscrip- 
tion, 10-11,  13 
Cureton,  Dr.  W.,  33,  34 
Cyprian,  St.,  note  51 

D’Anville,  geographer,  170 
David  Clement,  Syriac  Abp.  of 
Damascus,  25 
De  Eossi,  57,  58,  61,  63 
Dioscoris,  201.  See  Socotra 
Dorotheus,  152 

Dowson,  Prof.,  reads  the  Takht-i- 
Bahi  inscription,  11-12 
Duchesne,  Mgr.  L.,  50,  55,  57,  60, 
161 

Ebed-Jesu,  34 

Edessa,  held  the  remains  of  Thomas 
the  Apostle,  71 , passim 
Edisius,  182,  184 
Egeria.  See  Sylvia 
Elias,  Bp.  of  Damascus,  137 
Ephraem,  St.,  personal  details,  20, 
note  21  ; his  witness  to  the  Indian 
apostolate  lof  St.  Thomas,  21-31  ; 
38-39 

Epiphanius,  St.,  Bp.  of  Constantia, 
Cyprus,  203  ff. 

Erasmus,  15 1 

Ethelward,  Bp.  of  Sherborne,  note  82 
Etheria.  See  Sylvia 
Ethiopia,  78.  See  Nubia 
Eugenius  IV. , Pope,  95 
Eulogus,  Bp.  of  Alexandria,  56 
Eusebius,  Bp.  of  Caesarea,  note  155, 
I7D  173 

Eusebius,  Bp.  of  Nicomedia,  193 


Feriale  Eomanum,  49 
Ferotin,  Dom  Marius,  111 
Flavius  Josephus,  \7\ff.,  note  178 
Florence  of  Worcester,  his  Chronicle, 
82 

Florentini  (Florentius  F.  M.),  61 
Florus,  153,  160,  161 
Freeman,  E.  A.,  Prof.,  82 
Frumentius,  St.,  Apostle  of  Abyssinia, 
182-187 

Gardiner,  Percy,  on  Gondophares’ 
coins,  7-8 

Gaudentius,  St.,  Bp.  of  Brescia,  45 

Gelasius,  Pope,  51 

George,  of  Cappadocia,  185,  187 

Gildemeister,  156 

Goar,  66 

Gondophares,  King,  in  the  Acts  of 
Thomas,  2 ; his  coins,  3-10  ; coin 
plate.  See  Takht-i-Bahi  inscription 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  found  in 
Arabia  Felix,  173  ff.\  another  copy 
with  the  body  of  St.  Barnabas, 
180-182 

Gospel  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  what 
it  says  of  St.  Thomas's  Apostolate, 
146,  147 

Gregory,  St.,  the  Great,  Pope,  51, 

56,  57 

Gregory  X. , Pope,  88 
Gregory  XIII.,  Pope,  65 
Gregory,  St.,  Bp.  of  Nazianzus,  42, 
and  note 

Gregory,  St.,  Bp.  ofNyssa,  129 
Gregory,  St.,  Bp.  of  Tours,  offers 
the  pilgrim  Theodore’s  witness  to 
the  Indian  tomb  of  St.  Thomas, 
71-80,  note  148,  153 

Harmonius,  son  of  Bar-Daisan,  note 
21 

Heracleon,  118,  120 
Heraclian,  Bp.  of  Chalcedon,  note  210 
Hermas  (Hermeas),  disciple  of  Manes, 
208 

Hippolytus,  Pseudo-,  151 
Kohlenberg,  H.,  of  Copenhagen, 
essay  on  the  evangelisation  of 
India  by  the  Apostle  Thomas,  note 
46 


INDEX 


3or 


Homeritae,  ancient  name  for  the 
people  of  Arabia  Felix  (alias 
Sabaei),  176,  177,  193 

Indicopleustes.  See  Cosrnas 

Jacob,  Bp.  of  Seleucia,  :8 
Jacob  of  Sarug,  39,  153,  160 
Jacob  Baradaeus,  40 
Jacobite,  (named  after  the  former) 
section  of  the  Syr.  Church,  witness 
to  St.  Thomas’s  Indian  apostolate, 
40,  124 

Jerome,  St.,  44  and  note,  note  173, 
note  1 So,  208 

Jesuab,  Nestorian,  Patriarch,  154,  160 
Job-Jesu,  18 

John,  St.,  the  Evangelist,  143-145 
and  note 

John,  St.,  of  Damascus,  note  149 
John,  the  Persian,  Metropolitan  of 
Persia,  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  note 
155 

John,  of  Monte  Corvino,  84,  88 ; 
created  Abp.  of  Cambalec,  88 ; 
letters  from  India  and  China,  89  ; 
visits  the  Shrine  of  St.  Thomas, 
Mylapore,  89  ; note  179  ; his  death, 
90-93 

Kalah,  153,  154,  156,  157,  159,  160 
Kam-Jesu,  18 

Karman  (Carmania),  98,  99,  ico 
Khabin,  merchant  of  Edessa,  who 
removed  the  remains  of  the  Apostle 
Thomas  to  Edessa,  note  23,  132 
Kodangulur.  See  Cranganore 
Kublai,  the  great  Khan,  88 

Lamy,  Mgr.,  25,  38,  note  176 
Lequien,  Dom  Michael,  137,  187 
Levi,  Sylvain,  on  Gondophares’  coins, 
8-9 

Lingard,  Dr.  Alban,  81 
Liturgical  books,  65 
Ludolf,  Job,  68 

Madras,  74,  86 
Mailapur.  See  Mylapore 
Maliarpha  (Mylapore),  so  named  by 
Ptolemy,  161-170 


Malpuria  (Mylapore),  95 
Manes,  208  ff. 

Marcellus,  205  / 

Marco  Polo,  visits  St.  Thomas’s 
shrine  at  Mylapore,  84-87  ; 1 24, 
129,  136 

Mares,  St.,  Bp.  of  Ctesiphon,  evid- 
ence on  St.  Thomas’s  mission, 
36-37 

Marignolli,  John  de’.  Bp.,  visits  St. 
Thomas’s  tomb,  Mylapore,  93-94, 
125,  129 

Marinus,  Pope,  81,  83 
Martin,  St.,  Bp.  of  Tours,  72 
Martin,  Pope,  83,  107 
Martyrologium  Hieronymianum,  50 

ff.  passim 

Martyrologium  Romanum,  65,  171, 

180,  182 

Matthew,  St.,  the  Evangelist,  his 
mission  to  Ethiopia,  178,  179  and 
note , 180;  his  Gospel  found  by 
Pantaenus,  172-176;  and  with  the 
body  of  St.  Barnabas,  180-182 
McCrindle,  J.  W.,  162,  16 
Meilan  (Mylapore),  96 
Menaea,  65 

Menologium,  65,  66,  67 
Meropius,  182 
Merv,  99 
Metaphrastes,  65 
Metrodorus,  182 

Michael  Palaeologus,  Emperor,  88 
Michaud,  113 

Mirapor  ( Mylapore),  note , 125 
Mirapolis  (Mylapore),  94 
Modestus,  Abp.  of  Jerusalem,  note 
148 

Monastery,  at  the  Indian  shrine  of 
St.  Thomas,  72,  80 
Mommsen,  Theodore,  ed.  of  Chrono- 
graphus  Anni  CCCLIIII. , 49 
Muziris,  ancient  name  of  Cranga- 
nore, 148 

Mylapore,  71,  86,  94,  95,  97,  99, 
124,  12S,  131 

Nestorian  heresy,  79,  198 ; when 
established  in  India,  198,  note  199  ; 
bishops,  96 

Nestorian  section  of  Syrian  Church, 


3°2 


INDEX 


witness  to  St.  Thomas’s  Indian 
Apostolate,  40-41,  96,  124 
Nestorians,  92,  95,  100,  note  131,  132 
Nicolo,  de  Conti,  visits  St.  Thomas’s 
tomb,  Mylapore,  95,  97 
Nilgherries,  78 
Nilus,  of  Constantinople,  120 
Nisibis,  20,  104 

Nubia  (Ethiopia),  the  Apostle 
Thomas  said  to  have  visited  it,  38, 
125,  140 ; the  special  field  of  St. 
Matthew’s  mission.  See  Matthew, 
St. 

Oderic,  Bl.,  of  Pordenone,  mentions  j 
Indian  tomb  of  St.  Thomas,  92  ; 1 
removes  the  bones  of  the  Franciscan  ' 
martyrs  of  Tana,  91 
Oecumenius,  152 

Oman  (Ostium  maris  Persici),  now 
Sohar,  194 

Ormuz,  160 

Ortona  a mare,  114,  115,  116,  118 

Palur,  ancient  church  of  wood  re- 
placed by  first  stone  church  in 
Malabar,  a.d.  1600-1607,  tradi- 
tionally connected  with  St.  Thomas, 
note  30 

Pantaenus,  St.,  171-173,  176,  189 
Parasang,  Persian  measure  of  travel- 
ling by  road,  159-160 
Partbia,  the  first  mission  of  St. 

Thomas,  178,  179,  180,  182 
Paulinus,  St.,  Bp.  of  Nola,  46  and 
note , 170 

Paulinus  a S.  Barthol.,  Carmelite 
missionary  in  Malabar,  note  31 
Perenicb,  Vic.-Genl.,  Archdeacon  of 
Ortona,  1 14,  116,  118 
Petavius,  209 

Peter,  St.,  Apostle,  141-142,  and  7iote 
Philipps,  W.  R. , 98,  note  131 
Philocalus,  Roman  caligraphist,  49 
Philostorgius,  Arian  church  his- 
torian, 136,  189  ff. 

Photius,  189,  193,  195,  196,  202 

Point  de  Galle,  158 

Ptolemy,  Alexandrian  geographer, 

78 ; his  Maliarpha  (Mylapore), 
161-170 


Qualah,  159,  160 

Quilon,  92,  named  also  Palumbum, 
ibid. , and  Columbum,  94 

Rapson,  E.  J.,  reads  Indian  and  Greek 
legends  of  Gondophares’  coins, 
6-7;  8 

Reinaud,  first  to  detect  connection 
between  coins  of  Gondophares 
and  Acts  of  Thomas,  17  ; 136, 
157,  191 

Rossi.  See  De  Rossi 
Rufinus,  priest  of  Aquileia,  106,  note 
1 73,  177,  1^2  ff.,  note  188 
Ruinart,  Dom  Theodore,  51,  129 

Sabaei,  179,  189 

Sacramentary,  Leonine,  51  ; Ge- 
lasian,  ibid.  ; Gregorian,  ibid. 
Saint-Martin,  Vivien  de,  162 
Sapor,  King  of  Persia,  104 
Saving-face  policy,  129,  131 
Sazana,  Prince  of  Auxum,  186 
Seleucia-Ctesiphon,  see  of,  depend- 
ent from  that  of  Antioch,  18,  1 99 
Senart,  reads  Takht-i-Bahi  inscrip- 
tion, 13-15 

Seven  churches  of  Malabar,  tradi- 
tionally connected  with  St.  Thomas, 
note  30 

Seven  Sleepers,  Martyrs,  74 
Sheba,  Queen  of,  189,  177 
Sighelm,  81 
Signantius,  113 

Silva,  Reed  da,  Bp.  of  Mylapore,  132 
Silvia,  the  pilgrim  (probably  Etheria 
or  Egeria),  109,  no,  in 
Smith-Vincent,  A.,  on  Gondophares’ 
coins,  9-10 

Socotra.  133,  136,  137,  155,  196,  201 
Socrates,  historian,  105,  179 
Solomo,  Bp.  of  Bassorah,  7iotc  24,  37 
Sozomen,  historian,  105 
Suidas,  202 
Swithelm,  82 

Synaxarium,  Gr.  Ch.,  66,  124,  150, 

151 

Tacitus,  historian,  177 
Takht-i-Bahi  inscription  has  the 
name  of  the  King  Gondophares, 


INDEX 


3°3 


10- 13;  its  date,  14-16;  read  by 
Dowson,  Cunningham,  and  Senart, 

11- T2;  11,  13;  13;  14 

Tana,  the  martyrs  of,  note  91  ; their 
cultus,  ibid. 

Tapharon  (Taphar  and  Saphar),  193 

Theodore,  St.,  martyr,  130 

Theodore,  the  pilgrim,  visited  St. 
Thomas’s  tomb  in  India  and 
Edessa,  72,  80,  86,  87  ; went  to 
Gaul,  73 

Theodore,  Lector,  on  the  Gospel 
found  on  the  body  of  St.  Barnabas, 

181 

Theodoret,  Bp.  of  Cyrus,  1 19,  209, 
210 

Theophilus  the  Indian,  sent  by  Con- 
stantius  on  a mission  to  Arabia 
Felix  and  to  Abyssinia,  188-202 

Thomas,  St.,  Apostle,  what  the  Acts 
say,  1-2.  History. — Did  he  meet 
Gondophares,  16,  17  ; preached  the 
Gospel  through  Parthia,  178,  179, 
180,  182;  became  the  Apostle  of 
India,  18-68;  suffered  martyrdom, 
118-122;  his  tomb  at  Mylapore, 
69-100.  Removal  of  his  remains  to 
Edessa  by  Khabin,  note  23  ; known 
to  be  there  in  fourth  century,  22-32, 
101-112;  thence  removed  to  Chios, 
1 13;  and  once  more  to  Ortona, 
114-118.  Festival — kept  in  India, 
61,  64,  note  1 34-135  ; kept  at 
Edessa,  note  27,  61,  64  ; by  Syrians 
on  3rd  July,  38,  40,  41,  61  ; in  the 
Weston  2 1st  December,  59-64;  by 
other  Rites,  41,  66-68.  Relics, 
note  45-46.  Tradition — en  route 


to  India  evangelised  Ethopia,  38, 
125,  140,  and  Socotra,  133,  138; 
versions  of  his  martyrdom,  122- 
132;  traditions  regarding  the 
Apostle,  1 32- 1 50  ; in  Malabar  and 
Mylapore,  132-133,  148,  149;  tour 
of  his  apostolate,  145,  147 ; tra- 
velled almost  the  whole  inhabited 
world,  146-147 

Thomas,  a disciple  of  Manes,  208, 
209,  210 

Tillemont,  106,  177,  note  184,  note 
210 

Travellers,  Europeans  in  the  East  in 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries, 
note  90 

Turbo,  a disciple  of  Manes,  205 

XJrfa,  Arab  name  for  Edessa,  41,  74 
Usuard,  Martyrology,  65 

Valens,  Emperor,  105,  106 
Vikrama  era,  13,  15 

Wadding,  89,  93,  note  179 
William,  Abp.  of  Tyre,  108,  112 
Willibrord,  St.,  58 
Wright,  Dr.  W.,  34,  53 

Xavier,  St.  Francis,  137-139 
Xerses  (Ardashir),  101 

Yule,  Co!.,  84,  85,  87,  90,  93,  94, 
156,  163 

Zaeagnus,  208 

Zayton,  ancient  port  of  China,  92,  94 
Zenghi,  Emir  of  Mosul,  112-113 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  Co. 
Edinburgh  <57°  London 


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